Figure 1

Interactions of different plants and pollinators; genomes are indicated symbolically. Left to right: the hummingbird-pollinated Aquilegia formosa, the bee-pollinated Ipomea pes-caprae, the moth-pollinated Silene latifolia and the sexual mimic Ophrys exaltata with its pollinator, a male Colletes cunicularius bee. Many of these affinities are neither fixed nor exclusive, as indicated by dashed diagonal arrows. Arrows between the chromosomes symbolize the many interactions of different loci distributed among the genomes, mediated by the phenotypes of plants and pollinators. Genomic approaches will probably lead to a better understanding of how interactions influence the evolution of molecular traits and their variability. The scent molecules β-ocimene, lilac aldehyde and (Z)-7-pentacosene (from left to right) are representative examples of the respective pollination systems bee pollination, moth pollination and sexual mimicry. Images reproduced, with permission, from [6] and the photographers: FP Schiestl (bumblebee, Silene, Ophrys), SD Johnson (sphingid moth), SA Hodges (Aquilegia), RARaguso (Ipomea), NJ Vereecken (Colletes bee).