Abstract
In many gynodioecious species the nuclear inheritance of male fertility is complex and involves multiple (restorer) genes. In addition to restoring plants from the female (male sterile) to the hermaphrodite (male fertile) state, these genes are also thought to play a role in the determination of the quantity of pollen produced by hermaphrodites. The more restorer alleles a hermaphroditic plant possesses, the higher the pollen production. To test this hypothesis I combined the results of crossing studies of the genetics of male sterility with phenotypic data on investment in stamens and ovules among the progeny of plants involved in these studies. The sex ratio (i.e. the frequency of hermaphrodites among the progeny), being a measure of the number of restorer alleles of the maternal plant, was positively related to the investment in pollen (male function), but negatively related to the investment in ovules (female function), in both field and greenhouse experiments. Consequently, a negative correlation between male and female function was observed (trade-off) and it is suggested that antagonistic pleiotropic effects of restorer genes might be the cause. Phenotypic gender, a measure combining investment in both pollen and ovules, was highly repeatable between field and greenhouse, indicating genetic determination of a more male- or female-biased allocation pattern among the studied plants.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (144.4 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bailey Maia F. A cost of restoration of male fertility in a gynodioecious species, Lobelia siphilitica. Evolution. 2002 Nov;56(11):2178–2186. doi: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2002.tb00142.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Campbell DR. Experimental tests of sex-allocation theory in plants. Trends Ecol Evol. 2000 Jun;15(6):227–232. doi: 10.1016/s0169-5347(00)01872-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Campino L., Santos-Gomes G. M., Pratlong F., Antunes F., Maurício I., Dedet J. P., Abranches P. HIV/Leishmania co-infections in Portugal: diagnosis and isoenzyme characterization of Leishmania. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1997 Jun;91(4):433–436. doi: 10.1080/00034989761067. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Charlesworth D., Laporte V. The male-sterility polymorphism of Silene vulgaris: analysis of genetic dat from two populations and comparison with Thymus vulgaris. Genetics. 1998 Nov;150(3):1267–1282. doi: 10.1093/genetics/150.3.1267. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dudle D. A., Mutikainen P., Delph L. F. Genetics of sex determination in the gynodioecious species Lobelia siphilitica: evidence from two populations. Heredity (Edinb) 2001 Mar;86(Pt 3):265–276. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2540.2001.00833.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gouyon P. H., Couvet D. A conflict between two sexes, females and hermaphrodites. Experientia Suppl. 1987;55:245–261. doi: 10.1007/978-3-0348-6273-8_11. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Koelewijn H. P., Van Damme J. M. Genetics of male sterility in gynodioecious Plantago coronopus. I. Cytoplasmic variation. Genetics. 1995 Apr;139(4):1749–1758. doi: 10.1093/genetics/139.4.1749. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Koelewijn H. P., Van Damme J. M. Genetics of male sterility in gynodioecious Plantago coronopus. II. Nuclear genetic variation. Genetics. 1995 Apr;139(4):1759–1775. doi: 10.1093/genetics/139.4.1759. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taylor D. R., Olson M. S., McCauley D. E. A quantitative genetic analysis of nuclear-cytoplasmic male sterility in structured populations of Silene vulgaris. Genetics. 2001 Jun;158(2):833–841. doi: 10.1093/genetics/158.2.833. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- de Haan A. A., Koelewijn H. P., Hundscheid M. P., Van Damme J. M. The dynamics of gynodioecy in Plantago lanceolata L. II. Mode of action and frequencies of restorer alleles. Genetics. 1997 Nov;147(3):1317–1328. doi: 10.1093/genetics/147.3.1317. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]