Timing for outcrossing

Pollination by insects is highly important for a successful outcrossing in a large number of plants, such as the Solanaceae family. The wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, has several floral traits with rhythmic patterns that are regulated by the circadian clock. This timing allows it to synchronize with certain pollinators and exclude other ones. At the Great Basin Desert in Utah, USA, its main pollinator is the hawkmoth Manduca sexta, which is only night active. The floral traits of N. attenuata are displayed at night to attract the hawkmoths. Modifying the clock by silencing some of its components altered the floral traits phenotype, carrying unexpected consequences. Transgenic flowers that keep conspicuous during day were expected to have lower fitness, due to absence of M. sexta and the extreme arid conditions. Unexpectedly, these flowers' fitness was good, just by switching the pollinators group.