Pollinator scarcity drives the shift to delayed selfing in Himalayan mayapple Podophyllum hexandrum (Berberidaceae)

The transition of a breeding system from outcrossing to selfing has been considered to be a widespread evolutionary trend in flowering plants.

13013-TS1R1The transition of a breeding system from outcrossing to selfing has been considered to be a widespread evolutionary trend in flowering plants, allowing species to colonize new habitats after long-distance dispersal. Moreover, Darwin realized that autonomous self-pollination could be an adaptation to reproduction if pollinator services were lost or extremely unpredictable. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS, Xiong et al. tested a hypothesis that the persistence of Himalayan mayapple (Podophyllum hexandrum), an early spring flowering herb in the Himalayan region, is attributable to the transition from self-incompatibilityΒ to self-compatibility i.e. the capacity for selfing in an unpredictable pollination environment. To clarify whether automatic self-pollination is achieved by movement of the pistil as suggested in a previous study, they measured incline angles of the pistil and observed flower movement during anthesis. They found that automatic self-pollination was facilitated by petals closing and stamens moving simultaneously to contact the stigma. A scarcity of pollinators may have driven the shift to delayed selfing in Podophyllum hexandrum.

AoBPLANTS

AoB PLANTS is an open-access, online journal that publishes peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of environmental and evolutionary biology. Published by Oxford University Press, AoB PLANTS provides a fast-track pathway for publishing high-quality research, where papers are available online to anyone, anywhere free of charge. Reasons to publish in AoB PLANTS include double-blind peer review of manuscripts, rapid processing time and low open-access charges.

Read this in your language

The Week in Botany

On Monday mornings we send out a newsletter of the links that have been catching the attention of our readers on Twitter and beyond. You can sign up to receive it below.

@BotanyOne on Mastodon

Loading Mastodon feed...

Audio


Archive