High Selfing Rates (high + selfing_rate)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Defining reproductively isolated units in a cryptic and syntopic species complex using mitochondrial and nuclear markers: the brooding brittle star, Amphipholis squamata (Ophiuroidea)

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 7 2008
E. BOISSIN
Abstract At a time when biodiversity is threatened, we are still discovering new species, and particularly in the marine realm. Delimiting species boundaries is the first step to get a precise idea of diversity. For sympatric species which are morphologically undistinguishable, using a combination of independent molecular markers is a necessary step to define separate species. Amphipholis squamata, a cosmopolitan brittle star, includes several very divergent mitochondrial lineages. These lineages appear totally intermixed in the field and studies on morphology and colour polymorphism failed to find any diagnostic character. Therefore, these mitochondrial lineages may be totally interbreeding presently. To test this hypothesis, we characterized the genetic structure of the complex in the French Mediterranean coast using sequences of mitochondrial DNA (16S) and for the first time, several nuclear DNA markers (introns and microsatellites). The data revealed six phylogenetic lineages corresponding to at least four biological species. These sibling species seem to live in syntopy. However, they seem to display contrasted levels of genetic diversity, suggesting they have distinct demographic histories and/or life-history traits. Genetic differentiation and isolation-by-distance within the French Mediterranean coasts are revealed in three lineages, as expected for a species without a free larval phase. Finally, although recombinant nuclear genotypes are common within mitochondrial lineages, the data set displays a total lack of heterozygotes, suggesting a very high selfing rate, a feature likely to have favoured the formation of the species complex. [source]


The evolution of self-fertilization and inbreeding depression under pollen discounting and pollen limitation

JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
E. PORCHER
Abstract We model the evolution of plant mating systems under the joint effects of pollen discounting and pollen limitation, using a dynamic model of inbreeding depression, allowing for partial purging of recessive lethal mutations by selfing. Stable mixed mating systems occur for a wide range of parameter values with pollen discounting alone. However, when typical levels of pollen limitation are combined with pollen discounting, stable selfing rates are always high but less than 1 (0.9 < s < 1 in most cases); in this situation, complete selfing does not evolve because pollen discounting becomes very large at high selfing rates, so that the automatic advantage of selfing changes to a disadvantage. These results suggest that mixed mating systems with high selfing rates can be maintained by selection, whereas mixed mating systems with low to moderate selfing rates are more likely attributable to unavoidable geitonogamous selfing. [source]


Genetic differentiation and reproductive isolation of a naturally occurring floral homeotic mutant within a wild-type population of Capsella bursa-pastoris (Brassicaceae)

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 12 2009
STEFFEN HAMEISTER
Abstract Apart from the common floral architecture in Brassicaceae, variation in flower morphology occurs in several genera within the family and is considered to affect speciation processes. We analysed genetic differentiation and flowering time variation of two floral variants of Capsella bursa-pastoris, the Spe variant and the wild-type, which occur sympatrically in a vineyard in southwest Germany. The Spe variant is characterized by an additional whorl of stamens instead of petals and was formerly classified as an independent taxon ,Capsella apetala' Opiz. Amplified fragment length polymorphism and allozyme analysis revealed a substantial genetic differentiation of the two floral variants and a higher genetic variation within the wild-type subpopulation compared with the Spe subpopulation. The low genetic variation in the mutant provided evidence of a recent local origin or recent introduction. Flowering time analysis indicated that, within the analysed population, the Spe variant flowers significantly later than the wild-type (P < 0.001). We conclude that the evolution and persistence of Spe within a wild-type population is facilitated by high selfing rates and been enhanced by a shift in flowering phenology. Hence, our data provide substantial evidence that the Spe phenotype has established itself as an isolated entity within a wild-type population and may thus serve as a model for the analysis of the evolutionary significance of homeotic mutants in wild populations. [source]


Characterization of 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers in the freshwater snail Aplexa marmorata (Mollusca, Gastropoda)

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 5 2008
MARIE-PIERRE DUBOIS
Abstract We describe 15 new variable microsatellites in the freshwater snail Aplexa (Physa) marmorata, as well as conditions for multiplexing and simultaneous genotyping sets of loci. Two to 11 alleles were detected per locus over the five populations studied, and up to eight alleles per locus and population. The observed heterozygosity was extremely low, most probably as the consequence of high selfing rates. The genetic differentiation among populations was large. These markers will constitute efficient tools for investigating the population structure in fragmented habitats. Cross-species amplification in three Physa species (P. acuta, P. fontinalis and P. gyrina) was rather unsuccessful. [source]