Against the odds: complete outcrossing in a monoecious clonal seagrass Posidonia australis (Posidoniaceae).

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Seagrasses are marine, flowering plants with a hydrophilous pollination strategy. In these plants, successful mating requires dispersal of filamentous pollen grains through the water column to receptive stigmas. Approximately 40 % of seagrass species are monoecious, and therefore little pollen movement is required if inbreeding is tolerated. Outcrossing in these species is further impacted by clonality, which is variable, but can be extensive in large, dense meadows. Despite this, little is known about the interaction between clonal structure, genetic diversity and mating systems in hydrophilous taxa.

Methods

Polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers were used to characterize genetic diversity, clonal structure, mating system and realized pollen dispersal in

SUBMITTER: Sinclair EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4030814 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature