Balance between inbreeding and outcrossing in a nannandrous species, the moss Homalothecium lutescens.

ABSTRACT: Epiphytic dwarf males on the females present a possible solution to the problem of short fertilization distances in mosses. However, leptokurtic spore dispersal makes dwarf males likely to be closely related to their host shoot, with an accompanying risk of inbreeding. The capacity of a female to harbour a high number of different dwarf males suggests that there may be mechanisms in place that counteract inbreeding, such as polyandry and post-fertilization selection. We have genotyped sporophytes, female host shoots and dwarf males in four populations of the moss Homalothecium lutescens. We found no evidence of selective sporophyte abortion based on level of heterozygosity. The occurrence of entirely homozygous sporophytes together with significantly positive inbreeding coefficients in thr

SUBMITTER: Rosengren F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4675880 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature