A mixed-mating strategy in a hermaphroditic vertebrate.

ABSTRACT: Mixed-mating systems, in which hermaphrodites can either self-fertilize or outcross, are common in many species of plants and invertebrates and have been informative models for studying the selective forces that can maintain both inbreeding and outbreeding in populations. Here, we document a remarkable instance of evolutionary convergence to an analogous mixed mating system by a vertebrate, the mangrove killifish (Kryptolebias marmoratus). In this androdioecious species, most individuals are simultaneous hermaphrodites that characteristically self-fertilize, resulting in local populations that consist of (nearly) homozygous lines. Most demes are also genetically diverse, an observation traditionally attributed to de novo mutation coupled with high levels of inter-site migration. However, d

SUBMITTER: Mackiewicz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1634907 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature