Indirect Selection on Flower Color in Silene littorea.

ABSTRACT: Flower color, as other floral traits, may suffer conflicting selective pressures mediated by both mutualists and antagonists. The maintenance of intraspecific flower color variability has been usually explained as a result of direct selection by biotic agents. However, flower color might also be under indirect selection through correlated traits, since correlations among flower traits are frequent. In this study, we aimed to find out how flower color variability is maintained in two nearby populations of Silene littorea that consistently differ in the proportions of white-flowered plants. To do that, we assessed natural selection on floral color and correlated traits by means of phenotypic selection analysis and path analysis. Strong directional selection on floral display and flowe

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Castaneda NL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7785944 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature