Natural variation in expression of self-incompatibility in Arabidopsis thaliana: implications for the evolution of selfing.

ABSTRACT: The switch from an out-crossing to a self-fertilizing mating system is one of the most prevalent evolutionary trends in plant reproduction and is thought to have occurred repeatedly in flowering plants. However, little is known about the evolution of self-fertility and the genetic architecture of selfing. Here, we establish Arabidopsis thaliana as a model for genetic analysis of the switch to self-fertility in the crucifer family, where the ancestral out-crossing mode of mating is determined by self-incompatibility (SI), a genetic system controlled by the S locus. We show that A. thaliana ecotypes exhibit S-locus polymorphisms and differ in their ability to express the SI trait upon transformation with S-locus genes derived from the obligate out-crosser Arabidopsis lyrata. Remarkably, at l

SUBMITTER: Nasrallah ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC528763 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature