Flavonols drive plant microevolution

Abstract

The idea that pollinators are in large part responsible for the diversity of flowering plants dates back more than 150 years to Darwin's work, but even modern scientists have struggled to identify specific 'speciation genes' and determine how they influenced flower-pollinator interactions. A new study proposes that a series of mutations in a single gene controlling floral chemicals influenced pollinator preferences, likely resulting in speciation, bringing us closer to finding a speciation gene.