Effects of mating system on adaptive potential for leaf morphology in Crepis tectorum (Asteraceae).

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

A shift from outcrossing to selfing is thought to reduce the long-term survival of populations by decreasing the genetic variation necessary for adaptation to novel ecological conditions. However, theory also predicts an increase in adaptive potential as more of the existing variation becomes expressed as homozygous genotypes. So far, relatively few studies have examined how a transition to selfing simultaneously affects means, variances and covariances for characters that might be under stabilizing selection for a spatially varying optimum, e.g. characters describing leaf morphology.

Methods

Experimental crosses within an initially self-sterile population of Crepis tectorum were performed to produce an outbred and inbred progeny population to assess how

SUBMITTER: Andersson S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3747809 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature