Consequences of Low Mate Availability in the Rare Self-Incompatible Species Brassica insularis |
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Authors: | SYLVAIN GLÉ MIN&dagger ,CHRISTOPHE PETIT&dagger ,SANDRINE MAURICE&dagger , AGNÈ S MIGNOT&dagger |
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Affiliation: | Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (UM2-CNRS), UniversitéMontpellier 2, France |
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Abstract: | Abstract: Self-incompatibility systems prevent self-fertilization in angiosperms. Although numerous S alleles are usually maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection, the number of S alleles can be low in small populations, which limits mate availability and reduces fecundity in endangered populations of self-incompatible plants. Despite the increasing evidence of the negative effect of self-incompatibility in small populations, the direct link between the number and the distribution of S alleles and their reproductive consequences has been rarely reported. Brassica insularis is a rare self-incompatible species with medium to very small populations. Results of a previous study showed that the smallest population has very few S alleles. We investigated whether reduced mate availability affects reproduction in this species. We compared the pollination success and the fruit set in 4 populations differing in population size and number of S alleles. Our results suggest that reproduction may be negatively affected by the low S-allele diversity in the smallest population. Nevertheless, other populations also had reduced fruit set that could not be attributed to self-incompatibility alone. |
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Keywords: | Brassica insularis Brassicaceae conservation genetics fruit set plant mate availability self-incompatibility |
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