The pollination and fertilization behavior of Fig plant

Arbind Mani Tripathi

Nepal
tripathi_555@hotmail.com
1. Introduction:
Fig is one of the oldest known fruit trees in the world and considered as sacred fruit in
all holy books, as objects of worship and for their many practical uses. The Common Fig
(Ficus carica L.) is a large, deciduous shrub or small tree , belongs to the family of
Moraceae and probably originated in southern Arabia where Wildfig and Caprifig trees are
still to be found (Condit, 1947; Zukovskij, 1950; Storey, 1975 cited by Mars, M.2003). Now
a day, it is an important crop all over the world and the wild forms are found in
Mediterranean, Arabia, Iran, and as well as in Central Asia and Transcaucasia (Mars, 2003).
The height of fig plant is 6.9–10 metres, with smooth grey bark, leaves 12–25 cm. long and
10–18 cm. across, and deeply lobed with three or five lobes. The fruit is 3–5 cm. long, with a
green skin, sometimes ripening towards purple or brown (Anonymous, 2009a). The genus
Ficus has about 850 species and the somatic chromosome number is 2n = 2x = 26 (Storey,
1975; Jona & Gribaudo, 1991 cited by Mars, 2003). The fig plants not only an important
crop for human beings but also they are extremely important food resources for wildlife.
Several Ficus species are domesticated as ornamentals like F. elastica (India rubber
plant), F. benjamina (weeping fig), F. religiosa (the sacred Bo-tree or Bodh-tree of the
Buddhists, and sacred Pipal-tree of the Hindus) (Jona & Gribaudo, 1991 cited by Mars,
M.2003). The only ones cultivated for their fruits are F. carica L. (the common fig).
Figs are one of the highest plant sources of calcium and fiber. According to USDA,
dried figs are richest in fibre, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and
vitamin K, relative to human needs. They have smaller amounts of many other nutrients. Figs
have a laxative effect and contain many antioxidants. They are good source of flavonoids and
polyphenols. Fig leaves are used as animal feed and the latex, dried and powdered, is used to
coagulate milk. According to FAO reports of 2005, fig-production was 1,057,000 tonnes;
Turkey was the top fig-producer (285,000 tonnes), followed by Egypt (170,000 tonnes) and
other Mediterranean countries (Anonymous, 2009b).

2. Types of Fig
There are 277 collections of figs originating from different Mediterranean areas
(Roger and Khadari, 2003) and classify four different horticultural types such as Caprifigs,
Smyrna (one crop), San Pedro (two crops) and Common (parthenocarpic) types (Lyons and
Mceachern, 2009, Anonymous, 2009c) which are described in given below.

2.1. Capri Fig.

The Caprifig produces a small non-edible fruit and produces both types of staminate
and pistillate flowers. This pollen is essential for fertilizing fruit of the Smyrna and San Pedro
types which pollen is transported by a Blastophaga wasp to the pollen-sterile types.
Commercial growers hang baskets of Blastophaga-infested Caprifigs so they can effectively
pollinate the fruit.

2.2. Smyrna Fig

The Smyrna fig variety produces large edible fruit with true seeds but needs to
pollination for fruit setting. The Blastophaga wasp (pollinator) and Caprifigs (pollinizer) are
most important factors to require for normal fruit development. If the fertilization process
does not occur, fruit will not develop properly and will fall from the tree but one thing wasp
does not oviposit in fruit due to very long styles. These types of figs are commonly sold as
dried form.

2.3. San Pedro Fig

These figs have combined characteristics of Smyrna and Common figs and they can
bear two crops of fruit in one season. First crop on last season's growth called the Breba crop
which is parthenocarpic no need to pollination and the second crop is the Smyrna type which
requires to pollinator (Blastophaga wasp) and pollinizer (Caprifigs) for fruit development. It
is rarely cultivated as a commercial purpose.

2.4. Common Fig

These figs develop parthenocarpically without pollination so they do not have true
seeds and produced on current season wood. The first crop of these figs bears on one year old
wood while second crop borne on current season's growth. Most commercial cultivars are
found in this group like Mission, Kadota, Magnolia, Brown Turkey, Celeste etc.

3. Flowering and fertilization behaviour

Fig is widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics regions where its numerous
variations found. The flower biology and fertilization process play a crucial role in the fig.
The grower often faced difficulties for obtaining sufficient yield because exactly they do not
know local figs fertilization behaviour.
The Ficus genus is characterized by hundreds to thousands of tiny flowers occurring
in the inside of a fleshy, fruit-like body. The fruit-like body or receptacle is commonly
thought as a fruit, but it is properly a false fruit or multiple fruit, in which the flowers and
seeds grow together to form a single mass. So, the fig "fruit" is derived from a specially
adapted type of inflorescence and technically called a syconium (Anonymous, 2009d).
The syconium often has a bulbous shape with a small opening (the ostiole) at the
outward end that allows access to pollinators. The flowers are pollinated by very small wasps
that crawl through the opening in search of a suitable place to lay eggs. Without this
pollinator service fig trees cannot reproduce by seed.
The small opening visible at the apex of the synconium, is a narrow passage, which
allows entering specialised wasp for pollination. At least 1000 species of figs occur in both
bisexual and unisexual forms and with significant variation within those two types. About
half of the species are monoicous (with both male and female flowers occurring inside each
of their fruit-bodies), and about half are dioicous (having separate male dominant flowering
and female-flowering trees). The flower is invisible and blooming inside the fruit. The
Common fig flowers are female type and its syconia contains only long-styled pistillate
flowers. The Caprifig which has male and female flowers requiring visits by a tiny wasp
(Blastophaga grossorum) and its syconium contain short styled pistillate flowers distributed
inner wall and staminate flowers massed around the interior of the ostiole. The Smyrna fig is
requiring cross-pollination by caprifigs in order to develop normal. The San Pedro fig is
intermediate and its first crop independent like the common fig while second crop dependent
on pollination.
Floral scents often act as pollinator attractants. In the case of obligate and specific
plant–pollinator relationships, the role of floral signals may be crucial in allowing the
encounter of the partners. About 750 Ficus species (Moraceae) are involved in such
interactions, each with a distinct species of pollinating wasp (Pige, et al. 2002). The receptive
female phase of individual syconia may last more than two weeks, being marked by the
production of long distance attracting volatile substances which are detectable to fig wasps
for several days (Kjellberg et al., 1983; Kjellberg et al., 1988).

The wasps that pollinate Ficus inflorescences can be active or passive pollinators.
They lay their eggs in fig flowers, so that a proportion of flowers will host a wasp larva
instead of a seed. Jousselin, et al. (2003) showed, an actively pollinated monoecious fig that
lack of pollination does not induce fig abortion, compared the locations of eggs and fertilised
flowers of three actively pollinated Ficus species and one passively pollinated species. And
found that more flowers containing wasp eggs were fertilised in the actively pollinated
species relative to those of the passively pollinated one.

Fig wasps and Figs

Fig wasp is the common name of wasps belongs to the family Agaonidae, which
pollinate the flowers of fig trees. Adult fig wasps are commonly no larger than 5 millimetres
in length. Fig wasps are members of the order Hymenoptera, comprising the ants, bees,
wasps, and sawflies etc. Among the Agaonidae, the female is the more typically appearing
insect, while the males are mostly wingless. In many cases the males' are mating females
while still within the fig syconium and die inside the syconium after they mate.
Inside the monoicous species of fig fruits have three kinds of flowers such as male,
short female, and long female. Female fig wasps can reach the ovaries of short female
flowers with their ovipositors, but cannot reach the ovaries of long female flowers. Thus, the
short female flowers grow wasps and the long female flowers grow seeds, if they are
pollinated. In the half of the fig species that are dioecious the female trees bear only female
flowers while the fruit bodies of the male trees often are bisexual (hermaphrodite) but
functionally male.
The bisexual or hermaphrodite common figs are called Capri fig. The other one is
female, as the male flower parts fail to develop; this produces the "edible" fig. Fig wasps
grow in Caprifigs but not in the female syconiums because the female flower is too long for
the wasp to successfully lay her eggs in them. However, the wasp pollinates the flower with
pollen from the fig. In turn, the flowers provide a safe haven and nourishment for the next
generation of wasps. Figs and fig wasps depend on each other to complete their reproduction
(Jin-yan, 2005). The close company between fig species and their wasp pollinators proved
clear example of co-evolution (Anonymous, 2009e, Kjellberg & Valdeyron, 1984 cited by
Mars, 2003).When the wasp dies, it is broken down by enzymes inside the fig.
Fig wasps are not known to transmit any diseases harmful to humans. There are
typically only one species of wasp (Blastophaga psene) capable of fertilizing the flowers of
each species of fig (Anonymous, 2009f).

References:
Anonymous, 2009a. Ficus [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus (2009-08-
1).
Anonymous,2009b.Common fig[Online]. Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/
Common _fig (2009-7-28)
Anonymous,2009c. Fig - Ficus carica L. [Online]. Available: http:/ /www. uga.edu /fruit
/fig.html#taxonomy (2009-07-30).
Anonymous,2009d. FIG [Online]. Available: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html(2009-7-28)
Anonymous,2009e. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus
Anonymous, 2009f. [Online]. Available: http://www. newworldencyclopedia.org/ entry/ Fig_
wasp (2009-8-2).
Condit, I.J. 1947. The fig. Waltham, Chronica Botanica.
Jin-yan Y., Z. Nan-xian, C, Yi-zhu, J. Xiao-cheng, D. Yua and Y. Hui, 2005.Seed and
Wasp Production in the Mutualism of Figs and Fig Wasps. Forestry Studies in
China, Vol.7 (1).
Jona B. and I. Gribaudo, 1991. Ficus spp. In : Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry,
Vol. 16, trees III (ed. by Y.P.S. Bajaj) : 76 - 93.
Jousselin, E., M. H. Mckey. E. A. Herre and F. Kjellberg, 2003.Why do fig wasps actively
pollinate monoecious figs? Oecologia 134: 381–387
Kjellberg, F., A. Aljibouri et G. Valdeyron, 1983. Observations récentes sur la
pollinisation du figuier. Fruits, (38) 7 - 8: 567 - 569.
Kjellberg, F. and G. Valdeyron, 1984. The pollination of the fig tree (Ficus carica L.)
and its control in horticulture. Acta Oecologica , Oecol. Gener., (5) 4 :
407 - 412.
Kjellberg, F., B. Doumesche and J.L. Bronstein, 1988 : Longevity of a fig wasp
(Blastophaga psenes L.). Ecology 91 (2), :117 - 122.
Lyons C. G. and G. R. Mceachern, 2009. Home fruit production - figs. [Online]. Available:
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/fig/fig.html (2009-7-28).
Mars, M.2003. Fig (Ficus carica L.) Genetic Resources and Breeding. Acta Hort.,
ISHS,605: 19-27.
Pige, L. G., J. M. Ere, and M. H. Mckey, 2002. Specific attraction of fig pollinating wasps:
Role of volatile compounds released by tropical figs. Journal of Chemical Ecology,
Vol. 28(2).
Roger J.P. and B. Khadari, 2003. Fig Germplasm of (1)CBNM Porquerolles Displays An
Important Genetic Variability : Evidence from Pomological Descriptors. Acta Hort.
ISHS 605: 51-59.
Storey, W.B., 1975: Figs. In Janick J. and J. Moore (eds.), Advances in fruit breeding.
Purdue Univ. Press. Indiana, pp. 568 - 589.
Zukovskij, P.M. 1950. Ficus. In: Cultivated plants and their wild relatives., State
Publishing House Soviet Science, Moscow, 1950, pp. 58 - 59.