Mismatch between pollen and pistil size causes asymmetric mechanical reproductive isolation across Phlox species.

ABSTRACT: In flowering plants, pollen-pistil interactions can serve as an important barrier to reproduction between species. As the last barrier to reproduction before fertilization, interactions between these reproductive organs are both complex and important for determining a suitable mate. Here, we test whether differences in style length generate a post-mating prezygotic mechanical barrier between five species of perennial Phlox wildflowers with geographically overlapping distributions. We perform controlled pairwise reciprocal crosses between three species with long styles and two species with short styles to assess crossing success (seed set). We find that heterospecific seed set is broadly reduced compared to conspecific cross success and reveal a striking asymmetry in heterospecific c

SUBMITTER: Feller AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11100701 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature