Patterns and drivers of heat production in the plant genus Amorphophallus.

Abstract

Thermogenesis - the ability to generate metabolic heat - is much more common in animals than in plants, but it has been documented in several plant families, most prominently the Araceae. Metabolic heat is produced in floral organs during the flowering time (anthesis), with the hypothesised primary functions being to increase scent volatilisation for pollinator attraction, and/or to provide a heat reward for invertebrate pollinators. Despite in-depth studies on the thermogenesis of single species, no attempts have yet been made to examine plant thermogenesis across an entire clade. Here, we apply time-series clustering algorithms to 119 measurements of the full thermogenic patterns in inflorescences of 80 Amorphophallus species. We infer a new time-calibrated phylogeny of this genus and use phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate the evolutionary determinants of thermogenesis. We find striking phenotypic variation across the phylogeny, with heat production in multiple clades reaching up to 15°C, and in one case 21.7°C above ambient temperature. Our results show that the thermogenic capacity is phylogenetically conserved and is also associated with inflorescence thickness. Our study paves the way for further investigations of the eco-evolutionary benefits of thermogenesis in plants.