Evolutionary history, biogeography, and extinction of the Cretaceous cheirolepidiaceous conifer, Frenelopsis

Marmi, Josep; Tosal, Aixa; Martín-Closas, Carles

doi:10.1016/j.eve.2023.100017

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However it is not so easy to climb up a tree and inspect male cones with a loupe, so the presence of sterile pollen may have be underestimated in other species. Interestingly, several authors (Marmi et al 2023 and references therein) mentioned male sterility as a possible cause for extinction of conifer species, due to the absence of pollen in the fossil remains of their last remaining populations. Unlike angiosperms with perfect, hermaphrodite flowers, the cones initiated by gymnosperms are either male or female.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA May Lead to Dioecy in Conifers

de Jong,

Shmida

2024

Acta Biotheor

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In angiosperms cytoplasmic DNA is typically passed on maternally through ovules. Genes in the mtDNA may cause male sterility. When male-sterile (female) cytotypes produce more seeds than cosexuals, they pass on more copies of their mtDNA and will co-occur with cosexuals with a neutral cytotype. Cytoplasmic gynodioecy is a well-known phenomenon in angiosperms, both in wild and crop plants. In some conifer families (e.g. Pinaceae) mitochondria are also maternally inherited. However in some other families (e.g. Taxaceae and Cupressaceae) mtDNA is paternally inherited through the pollen. With paternal mtDNA inheritance, male cytotypes that produce more pollen than cosexuals are expected to co-occur with cosexuals. This is uncharted territory. An ESS model shows that the presence of male cytotypes selects for more female allocation in the cosexual, i.e. for sexual specialisation. An allele that switches sex from male to female can then invade. This leads to rapid loss of the neutral cytotype of the cosexual, fixation of the male cytotype and dioecy with 50% males and 50% females. The models suggest that paternal inheritance of mtDNA facilitates the evolution dioecy. Consistent with this hypothesis the Pinaceae are 100% monoecious, while dioecy is common in the Taxaceae family and in the genus Juniperus (Cupressaceae). However, no reliable data are yet available on both mode of inheritance of mtDNA and gender variation of the same species. When cosexuals benefit from reproductive assurance (high selfing rate, low inbreeding depression, low fertilisation) they maintain themselves next to males and females. This predicted pattern with three sex types present in the same population is observed in conifers in nature.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%