Create your own conference schedule! Click here for full instructions

Abstract Detail



Pollination Biology

Smith-Huerta, Nancy [1], Huerta, Alfredo [2].

Sexual conflict and the breeding system of the California wildflower Clarkia tembloriensis (Onagraceae).

Sexual conflict occurs in plants and animals when the optimal fitness of one sex during reproduction is different from that of the other. This conflict often centers on the frequency of mating, with optimal mating frequency higher for males than females. Most studies of sexual conflict in plants have centered on female mate choice. This may take the form of pollen from one donor being favored over pollen from another by the female plant or in outcross-pollen being favored over self-pollen in a mixed pollination, a phenomenon known as cryptic self-incompatibility (CSI). The wildflower Clarkia tembloriensis provides a unique system in which to study sexual conflict since CSI has been documented in C. unguiculata, a closely related species, and because wild populations vary in both flower size and breeding system. These differences are expected to influence the nature of sexual conflict within the different populations of C. tembloriensis. The present study surveyed pollen and ovule numbers, pollen deposition, and seed set in five natural populations of C. tembloriensis that vary with respect to flower size and breeding system. The five populations included two containing plants with large, strongly protandrous outcrossing flowers, one consisting of plants with small protandrous outcrossing flowers, and two consisting of plants with small non-protandrous selfing flowers. Flowers and unopened buds were collected from the five different populations in early May 2011 and capsules containing seeds were collected in July 2011. Pollen numbers were greatest in the large-flowered protandrous outcrossing flowers, less in the small-flowered protandrous outcrossing flowers, and least in the small-flowered selfers. There were no differences in ovule numbers between the five populations. Pollen deposition was highest in the small-flowered selfers and least in the large-flowered outcrossers. Seed set was greatest for the large-flowered outcrossers, less for the small-flowered outcrossers, and least for the small-flowered selfers. The differences observed in pollen numbers, pollen deposition, seed set, and breeding system between the populations are expected to lead to differences in the nature of sexual conflict in each population.

Broader Impacts:


Log in to add this item to your schedule

1 - Miami University, Department of Botany, 316 Pearson Hall, Department Of Botany, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA
2 - Miami University, Department of Botany, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

Keywords:
Sexual Conflict
Pollen Deposition
Ovule.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Topics
Session: P
Location: Grand Salon A - D/Riverside Hilton
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2013
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PPL004
Abstract ID:334
Candidate for Awards:None


Copyright © 2000-2012, Botanical Society of America. All rights reserved