Elaiosomes (elaios- oil, some- body) are fleshy structures that are attached to the seeds of many plant species. The Elaiosome is rich in lipids and proteins, and may be variously shaped. Many plants have elaiosomes to attract ants, which take the seed to their nest and feed the elaiosome to their larvae. After the larvae have consumed the elaiosome, the ants take the seed to their waste disposal area, which is rich in nutrients from the ant frass and dead bodies, where the seeds germinate. This type of seed dispersal is termed myrmecochory from the Greek "ant" (myrmex) and "dispersal" (kore). This type of symbiotic relationship appears to be mutualistic, as the plant benefits because its seeds are dispersed to favorable germination sites, and also because it is planted (carried underground) by the ants. Elaiosomes are an example of convergent evolution, having evolved many times in thousands of different plant species. A seed is the ripened ovule of gymnosperm or angiosperm plants. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum... Figure 1: Structure of a Lipid. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... Subfamilies Dorylomorph subfamilies Apomyrminae Cerapachyinae Dorylinae Ecitoninae Formicomorph subfamilies: Aneuretinae Dolichoderinae Formicinae - e. ... A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ... Frass refers to insect droppings or excrement. ... Sunflower seedlings, just three days after germination In a botanical sense, germination is the process of emergence of growth from a resting stage. ... Myrmecochory is an ecological or, more specifically, a botanical term for seed dispersal by ants. This is a very specific mutualism. ... Common Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) in their magnificent sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica) home. ... In biology, mutualism is an interaction between two species in which both species derive benefit. ... In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution describes the process whereby organisms not closely related independently acquire similar characteristics while evolving in separate and sometimes varying ecosystems. ...

Some examples of plants that have eliasomes are:

Bloodroot Binomial name Sanguinaria canadensis L. Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a native perennial, herbaceous plant of the eastern part of North America from Canada southward. ...

Trilliums Species See text. ...

Dutchman's breeches

Corydalis cava

Chelidonium majus Binomial name Chelidonium majus L. The greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) is a yellow-flowering poppy, native to Europe and the Mediterranean basin. ...

See also

Aril Mature and immature arils of Taxus baccata, a European yew. ...

Capitulum, a similar appendage with similar purposes found in stick insect eggs. An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers on a branch of a plant. ... Ctenomorpha Chronus Ctenomorpha Chronus Medauroidea Extradentata Stick insects are members of the one of the two insect families Phasmatidae and Phylliidae. ...

Myrmecochory Myrmecochory is an ecological or, more specifically, a botanical term for seed dispersal by ants. This is a very specific mutualism. ...

External links

• http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plaug99.htm#antdispersal