Sexual Dimorphism in the Quantitative-Genetic Architecture of Floral, Leaf, and Allocation Traits in Silene Latifolia

Steven, Janet C.; Delph, Lynda F.; Brodie, Edmund D.

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00004.x

Cited by 98 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Indeed, males with larger floral displays receive more pollinator visits [40]. The fitness increase associated with the higher production of flowers in males has important implications for the evolution of sexual dimorphism [41,65,66], which is thought to be driven by selection for increased flower number in males [41,42], the most extremely dimorphic trait [67]. For selection to occur, genetic variation should translate into differences in fitness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Males are likely to produce many flowers as a result of sexual selection to attract more pollinators [40], whereas fecundity selection may favour females with larger and hence fewer flowers because of a negative genetic correlation between flower size and number, and a positive genetic correlation between flower size and ovule number [39,41,42]. Positive selection on the number of flowers in males has been suggested, but never, to our knowledge, tested with direct methods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of inbreeding, genetic dissimilarity and phenotype on male reproductive success in a dioecious plant

et al. 2011

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Pollen fate can strongly affect the genetic structure of populations with restricted gene flow and significant inbreeding risk. We established an experimental population of inbred and outbred Silene latifolia plants to evaluate the effects of (i) inbreeding depression, (ii) phenotypic variation and (iii) relatedness between mates on male fitness under natural pollination. Paternity analysis revealed that outbred males sired significantly more offspring than inbred males. Independently of the effects of inbreeding, male fitness depended on several male traits, including a sexually dimorphic (flower number) and a gametophytic trait (in vitro pollen germination rate). In addition, full-sib matings were less frequent than randomly expected. Thus, inbreeding, phenotype and genetic dissimilarity simultaneously affect male fitness in this animal-pollinated plant. While inbreeding depression might threaten population persistence, the deficiency of effective matings between sibs and the higher fitness of outbred males will reduce its occurrence and counter genetic erosion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of inbreeding, genetic dissimilarity and phenotype on male reproductive success in a dioecious plant

et al. 2011

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“…Such experiments have shown remarkable sexual dimorphism and genetic correlations between the sexes for multiple fitness-related traits in S. latifolia (Meagher, 1999;Delph, 2007). Flower size, flower number and leaf traits have been extensively studied; these traits vary in their means and degree of sexual dimorphism among populations, and genetic correlations within and between the sexes are high (Steven et al, 2007). Sex-specific quantitative trait loci have been found for these traits, especially in males; the finding that the major ones are on the sex chromosomes (Scotti and Delph, 2006) suggests that the studies on the evolution of sexual dimorphism in this species may uncover examples of sexual antagonism.…”

Section: Sexual Dimorphism and Sexual Antagonismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silene as a model system in ecology and evolution

et al. 2009

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The genus Silene, studied by Darwin, Mendel and other early scientists, is re-emerging as a system for studying interrelated questions in ecology, evolution and developmental biology. These questions include sex chromosome evolution, epigenetic control of sex expression, genomic conflict and speciation. Its well-studied interactions with the pathogen Microbotryum has made Silene a model for the evolution and dynamics of disease in natural systems, and its interactions with herbivores have increased our understanding of multi-trophic ecological processes and the evolution of invasiveness. Molecular tools are now providing new approaches to many of these classical yet unresolved problems, and new progress is being made through combining phylogenetic, genomic and molecular evolutionary studies with ecological and phenotypic data. The model role of a non-model organismThe genus Silene (Caryophyllaceae), with a tradition of genetical and ecological studies dating back to Mendel and Darwin, has remarkably many interesting features. First, the species in the genus vary widely in their breeding systems and ecology. Second, several members of this mainly holarctic genus can be easily bred, and have short life cycles, and are thus convenient for experimental and field studies. Genomic resources are now becoming increasingly available in Silene, making genetic, quantitative genetic and molecular studies possible. A strength of Silene as a model system, compared with many classical model organisms, is that researchers can rely on a large number of ecological studies encompassing biotic interactions with sexually transmitted fungi, pollinators and herbivores. It is the wealth of ecological and other earlier knowledge that makes the genus Silene important for studying many biological questions, including the suppression of recombination during sex chromosome evolution, sexually antagonistic selection in an organism that is not an animal, epigenetic processes in flower development, speciation and reproductive isolation, multi-trophic interactions, disease ecology and biological invasions.Thanks to the classical genetic and ecological work on Silene, new progress can now be made in studying some of these important unresolved questions in biology with the aid of modern molecular tools. That new model systems with accessible and well-studied ecology open fruitful avenues for investigation is illustrated also by Mimulus (Wu et al., 2008) and the ongoing efforts to develop genomic resources in an increasing number of different systems. In the following, we outline the unique features of the Silene system, and describe active research areas and future directions, highlighting new advances and work in progress. Evolution of sexual systemsPlants show remarkable diversity in their sexual and mating systems, ranging from hermaphroditism to dioecy, from self-incompatible hermaphroditism to hermaphroditism in which individuals possess a capacity to self-fertilize, but which often show complex mechanisms to promote outcrossing (Darwin, 18...

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“…An explanation for this may be the existence of sexually antagonistic selection pressures on flower numbers in this species. Male S. latifolia plants are probably under sexual selection for high flower numbers, whereas fecundity selection in females favours large flowers, and hence low flower numbers (due to a negative genetic correlation between these two traits; Steven et al, 2007). Consequently, S. latifolia shows a strong sexual dimorphism for floral display size.…”

Section: The Costs Of Inbreedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for inbreeding depression and post-pollination selection against inbreeding in the dioecious plant Silene latifolia

2008

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In many species, inbred individuals have reduced fitness. In plants with limited pollen and seed dispersal, post-pollination selection may reduce biparental inbreeding, but knowledge on the prevalence and importance of pollen competition or post-pollination selection after non-self pollination is scarce. We tested whether post-pollination selection favours less related pollen donors and reduces inbreeding in the dioecious plant Silene latifolia. We crossed 20 plants with pollen from a sibling and an unrelated male, and with a mix of both. We found significant inbreeding depression on vegetative growth, age at first flowering and total fitness (22% in males and 14% in females). In mixed pollinations, the unrelated male sired on average 57% of the offspring. The greater the paternity share of the unrelated sire, the larger the difference in relatedness of the two males to the female. The effect of genetic similarity on paternity is consistent with predictions for post-pollination selection, although paternity, at least in some crosses, may be affected by additional factors. Our data show that in plant systems with inbreeding depression, such as S. latifolia, pollen or embryo selection after multiple-donor pollination may indeed reduce inbreeding.

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Sexual Dimorphism in the Quantitative-Genetic Architecture of Floral, Leaf, and Allocation Traits in Silene Latifolia

Cited by 98 publications

References 77 publications

The effects of inbreeding, genetic dissimilarity and phenotype on male reproductive success in a dioecious plant

The effects of inbreeding, genetic dissimilarity and phenotype on male reproductive success in a dioecious plant

Silene as a model system in ecology and evolution

Evidence for inbreeding depression and post-pollination selection against inbreeding in the dioecious plant Silene latifolia

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