To self or not to self? Absence of mate choice despite costly outcrossing in the fungus Podospora anserina.

ABSTRACT: Fungi have a large potential for flexibility in their mode of sexual reproduction, resulting in mating systems ranging from haploid selfing to outcrossing. However, we know little about which mating strategies are used in nature, and why, even in well-studied model organisms. Here, we explored the fitness consequences of alternative mating strategies in the ascomycete fungus Podospora anserina. We measured and compared fitness proxies of nine genotypes in either diploid selfing or outcrossing events, over two generations, and with or without environmental stress. We showed that fitness was consistently lower in outcrossing events, irrespective of the environment. The cost of outcrossing was partly attributed to non-self recognition genes with pleiotropic effects on fertility. We then predi

SUBMITTER: Martinossi-Allibert I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10092876 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature