Floral scent diversity and evolution in deceptive Cypripedium, and post-pollination effects on floral scent and its biosynthesis in C. henryi

In 31 Cypripedium taxa, 258 floral VOCs were detected, showing highly species-specific scent dominated by terpenoids, aliphatics, and aromatics.

• Why it matters: Floral scent underpins pollinator attraction and reproductive isolation in deceptive orchids, but its variation and evolutionary constraints across a phylogeny—and how pollination reshapes biosynthesis—remain poorly resolved.
• What they did: Dynamic headspace VOC sampling followed by GC/MS quantified intra- and interspecific scent variation and tested phylogenetic signal; in Cypripedium henryi, four pollination treatments plus RNA-seq assessed transcriptional responses in VOC biosynthetic pathways.
• The result: Floral scent showed a significant but weak phylogenetic signal, and pollination caused only limited changes in scent composition and VOC biosynthetic gene expression, despite decreased total scent emission after pollinium deposition.

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