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The effect of pollen source vs. flower type on progeny performance and seed predation under contrasting light environments in a cleistogamous herb.

ABSTRACT: Dimorphic cleistogamy is a specialized form of mixed mating system where a single plant produces both open, potentially outcrossed chasmogamous (CH) and closed, obligately self-pollinated cleistogamous (CL) flowers. Typically, CH flowers and seeds are bigger and energetically more costly than those of CL. Although the effects of inbreeding and floral dimorphism are critical to understanding the evolution and maintenance of cleistogamy, these effects have been repeatedly confounded. In an attempt to separate these effects, we compared the performance of progeny derived from the two floral morphs while controlling for the source of pollen. That is, flower type and pollen source effects were assessed by comparing the performance of progeny derived from selfed CH vs. CL and outcrossed CH vs. selfed CH flowers, respectively. The experiment was carried out with the herb Ruellia nudiflora under two contrasting light environments. Outcrossed progeny generally performed better than selfed progeny. However, inbreeding depression ranges from low (1%) to moderate (36%), with the greatest value detected under shaded conditions when cumulative fitness was used. Although flower type generally had less of an effect on progeny performance than pollen source did, the progeny derived from selfed CH flowers largely outperformed the progeny from CL flowers, but only under shaded conditions and when cumulative fitness was taken into account. On the other hand, the source of pollen and flower type influenced seed predation, with selfed CH progeny the most heavily attacked by predators. Therefore, the effects of pollen source and flower type are environment-dependant and seed predators may increase the genetic differences between progeny derived from CH and CL flowers. Inbreeding depression alone cannot account for the maintenance of a mixed mating system in R. nudiflora and other unidentified mechanisms must thus be involved.

SUBMITTER: Munguia-Rosas MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3829907 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The effect of pollen source vs. flower type on progeny performance and seed predation under contrasting light environments in a cleistogamous herb.

Munguía-Rosas Miguel A MA Campos-Navarrete María J MJ Parra-Tabla Víctor V

PloS one 20131115 11

Dimorphic cleistogamy is a specialized form of mixed mating system where a single plant produces both open, potentially outcrossed chasmogamous (CH) and closed, obligately self-pollinated cleistogamous (CL) flowers. Typically, CH flowers and seeds are bigger and energetically more costly than those of CL. Although the effects of inbreeding and floral dimorphism are critical to understanding the evolution and maintenance of cleistogamy, these effects have been repeatedly confounded. In an attempt ...[more]

PMID: 24260515

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Project description:Gentiana leucomelaena manifests dramatic flower color polymorphism, with both blue- and white-flowered individuals (pollinated by flies and bees) both within a population and on an individual plant. Previous studies of this species have shown that pollinator preference and flower temperature change as a function of flower color throughout the flowering season. However, few if any studies have explored the effects of flower color on both pollen viability (mediated by anther temperature) and pollinator preference on reproductive success (seed set) in a population or on individual plants over the course of the entire flowering season. Based on prior observations, we hypothesized that flower color affects both pollen viability (as a function of anther temperature) and pollen deposition (as a function of pollinator preference) to synergistically determine reproductive success during the peak of the flowering season. This hypothesis was tested by field observations and hand pollination experiments in a Tibetan alpine meadow. Generalized linear model and path analyses showed that pollen viability was determined by flower color, flowering season, and anther temperature. Anther temperature correlated positively with pollen viability during the peak of the early flowering season, but negatively affected pollen viability during the peak of the mid- to late flowering season. Pollen deposition was determined by flower color, flowering season (early, or mid- to late season), and pollen viability. Pollen viability and pollen deposition were affected by flower color that in turn affected seed set across the peak of the flowering season (i.e., when the greatest number of flowers were being pollinated). Hand pollination experiments showed that pollen viability and pollen deposition directly influenced seed set. These data collectively indicate that the preference of pollinators for flower color and pollen viability changed during the flowering season in a manner that optimizes successful reproduction in G. leucomelaena. This study is one of a few that have simultaneously considered the effects of both pollen viability and pollen deposition on reproductive success in the same population and on individual plants.

Dataset Information

The effect of pollen source vs. flower type on progeny performance and seed predation under contrasting light environments in a cleistogamous herb.

Publications

The effect of pollen source vs. flower type on progeny performance and seed predation under contrasting light environments in a cleistogamous herb.

Similar Datasets

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