Do differences in plant and flower age change mating patterns and alter offspring fitness in Raphanus sativus (Brassicaceae)?

Defining features of age-specific fertility and seed quality in senescing indeterminate annuals

PREMISE OF THE STUDY

A trade-off between fertility and offspring viability underpins plant reproductive response to sub-optimal environmental conditions. Senescence involves internal resource limitation, and it is a sub-optimal body condition. We tested if senescence affects age-specific fertility and seed viability (quality) in indeterminate annuals.

METHODS

Fertility in individual pods on the monopodial indeterminate inflorescence of Arabidopsis thaliana and its big-seeded relative Brassica nigra was quantified. The reproductive phase was divided into three phases: (1) early-senescence (initial flowers) (2) mid-senescence and (3) late-senescence (wilting leaves). Seed-viability probability as a function of pod position on the inflorescence (a proxy for parent's age) and seed position within pod was verified by germination tests in Brassica and then analysed using a binomial logistic regression model.

KEY RESULTS

Age-specific fertility increased gradually, peaked, and then declined significantly during senescence in Arabidopsis and Brassica. Acropetal size distribution of rosette leaves was similar to that of pods (age-specific fertility) in Arabidopsis. Seeds positioned closest to stigma tended to be heavier and more viable than others in highly fertile pods, characteristic of mid-senescence phase in Brassica. Pod position (parent's age) was a significant predictor of seed-viability probability or seed quality, which improved in old and senescing Brassica.

CONCLUSIONS

High viability probability of seeds produced in low-fertility pods during late-senescence phase suggests weakening of maternal control over seed-size optimization (bigger, fewer, and better seeds) in internally resource-depleted older parent plants. Proximity to stigma can increase seed quality. The unexpected increase in fertility and seed viability during early-senescence phase is likely due to highly conserved developmental constraints on leaf and pod phenotype. Indeterminate annuals can shed light on fertility, offspring quality and senescence relationships in all plants that reproduce sexually and indeterminately.

Can selection on a male mating character result in evolutionary change? A selection experiment on California wild radish, Raphanus sativus

PREMISE OF THE STUDY

Whenever more pollen grains arrive on stigmas than necessary to fertilize ovules, sexual selection is possible. However, the role of sexual selection remains controversial, in part because of lack of evidence on genetic bases of traits and the response of relevant characters to selection.

METHODS

In an experiment with Raphanus sativus, we selected on tendency to sire seeds in the stylar or basal regions of fruits. This character is likely related to pollen tube growth rate, and seed position affects rates of abortion and seed predation. We measured differences among families in seed siring and related characters and evaluated responses to selection.

KEY RESULTS

All replicates showed strong effects of pollen donor family on proportion of seeds sired per fruit in mixed pollinations. Most also showed effects of pollen donor family on number of pollen grains per flower and pollen diameter. Two of four replicates showed a response to selection on position of seeds sired. In responding replicates, we found trade-offs in pollen grain size and number; plants with larger pollen grains sired more seeds in the basal region.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest a genetic basis for pollen donor ability to sire seeds in competition. The significant response to selection in two replicates shows that position of seeds sired can respond to selection. Thus, all components for sexual selection to occur and affect traits are present. Variation in results among replicates might be due to changes in greenhouse conditions. Environmental effects may contribute to the maintenance of variation in these fitness-related characters.

Parental genetic distance and patterns in nonrandom mating and seed yield in predominately selfing Arabidopsis thaliana

In this study, we ask two questions: (1) Is reproductive success independent of parental genetic distance in predominately selfing plants? (2) In the absence of early inbreeding depression, is there substantial maternal and/or paternal variation in reproductive success in natural populations? Seed yield in single pollinations and proportion of seeds sired in mixed pollinations were studied in genetically defined accessions of the predominately selfing plant Arabidopsis thaliana by conducting two diallel crosses. The first diallel was a standard, single pollination design that we used to examine variance in seed yield. The second diallel was a mixed pollination design that utilized a standard pollen competitor to examine variance in proportion of seeds sired. We found no correlation between reproductive success and parental genetic distance, and self-pollen does not systematically differ in reproductive success compared to outcross pollen, suggesting that Arabidopsis populations do not experience embryo lethality due to early-acting inbreeding or outbreeding depression. We used these data to partition the contributions to total phenotypic variation from six sources, including maternal contributions, paternal contributions and parental interactions. For seed yield in single pollinations, maternal effects accounted for the most significant source of variance (16.6 %). For proportion of seeds sired in mixed pollinations, the most significant source of variance was paternal effects (17.9 %). Thus, we show that population-level genetic similarities, including selfing, do not correlate with reproductive success, yet there is still significant paternal variance under competition. This suggests two things. First, since these differences are unlikely due to early-acting inbreeding depression or differential pollen viability, this implicates natural variation in pollen germination and tube growth dynamics. Second, this strongly supports a model of fixation of pollen performance genes in populations, offering a focus for future genetic studies in differential reproductive success.

Female gamete competition in an ancient angiosperm lineage

In Trimenia moorei, an extant member of the ancient angiosperm clade Austrobaileyales, we found a remarkable pattern of female gametophyte (egg-producing structure) development that strikingly resembles that of pollen tubes and their intrasexual competition within the maternal pollen tube transmitting tissues of most flowers. In contrast with most other flowering plants, in Trimenia, multiple female gametophytes are initiated at the base (chalazal end) of each ovule. Female gametophytes grow from their tips and compete over hundreds of micrometers to reach the apex of the nucellus and the site of fertilization. Here, the successful female gametophyte will mate with a pollen tube to produce an embryo and an endosperm. Moreover, the central tissue within the ovules of Trimenia, through which the embryo sacs grow, contains starch and other carbohydrates similar to the pollen tube transmitting tissues in the styles of most flowers. The pattern of female gametophyte development found in Trimenia is rare but by no means unique in angiosperms. Importantly, it seems that multiple female gametophytes are occasionally or frequently initiated in members of other ancient angiosperm lineages. The intensification of pollen tube (male gametophyte) competition and enhanced maternal selection among competing pollen tubes are considered to have been major contributors to the rise of angiosperms. Based on insights from Trimenia, we posit that prefertilization female gametophyte (egg) competition within individual ovules in addition to male gametophyte (sperm) competition and maternal mate choice may have been key features of the earliest angiosperms.

Dynamics of maternal and paternal effects on embryo and seed development in wild radish (Raphanus sativus)

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Variability in embryo development can influence the rate of seed maturation and seed size, which may have an impact on offspring fitness. While it is expected that embryo development will be under maternal control, more controversial hypotheses suggest that the pollen donor and the embryo itself may influence development. These latter possibilities are, however, poorly studied. Characteristics of 10-d-old embryos and seeds of wild radish (Raphanus sativus) were examined to address: (a) the effects of maternal plant and pollen donor on development; (b) the effects of earlier reproductive events (pollen tube growth and fertilization) on embryos and seeds, and the influence of embryo size on mature seed mass; (c) the effect of water stress on embryos and seeds; (d) the effect of stress on correlations of embryo and seed characteristics with earlier and later reproductive events and stages; and (e) changes in maternal and paternal effects on embryo and seed characteristics during development.

METHODS

Eight maternal plants (two each from four families) and four pollen donors were crossed and developing gynoecia were collected at 10 d post-pollination. Half of the maternal plants experienced water stress. Characteristics of embryos and seeds were summarized and also compared with earlier and later developmental stages.

KEY RESULTS

In addition to the expected effects of the maternal plants, all embryo characters differed among pollen donors. Paternal effects varied over time, suggesting that there are windows of opportunity for pollen donors to influence embryo development. Water-stress treatment altered embryo characteristics; embryos were smaller and less developed. In addition, correlations of embryo characteristics with earlier and later stages changed dramatically with water stress.

CONCLUSIONS

The expected maternal effects on embryo development were observed, but there was also evidence for an early paternal role. The relative effects of these controls may change over time. Thus, there may be times in development when selection on the maternal, paternal or embryo contributions to development are more and less likely.

The impact of plant and flower age on mating patterns

BACKGROUND

Over a season, plant condition, amount of ongoing reproduction and biotic and abiotic environmental factors vary. As flowers age, flower condition and amount of pollen donated and received also vary. These internal and external changes are significant for fitness if they result in changes in reproduction and mating.

SCOPE

Literature from several fields was reviewed to provide a picture of the changes that occur in plants and flowers that can affect mating over a season. As flowers age, both the entire flower and individual floral whorls show changes in appearance and function. Over a season, changes in mating often appear as alteration in seed production vs. pollen donation. In several species, older, unpollinated flowers are more likely to self. If flowers are receiving pollen, staying open longer may increase the number of mates. In wild radish, for which there is considerable information on seed paternity, older flowers produce fewer seeds and appear to discriminate less among pollen donors. Pollen donor performance can also be linked to maternal plant age. Different pollinators and mates are available across the season. Also in wild radish, maternal plants appear to exert the most control over paternity when they are of intermediate age.

CONCLUSIONS

Although much is known about the characters of plants and flowers that can change over a season, there is less information on the effects of age on mating. Several studies document changes in self-pollination over time, but very few, other than those on wild radish, consider more subtle aspects of differential success of pollen donors over time.

Pollen-tube growth rates in Collinsia heterophylla (Plantaginaceae): one-donor crosses reveal heritability but no effect on sporophytic-offspring fitness

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Evolutionary change in response to natural selection will occur only if a trait confers a selective advantage and there is heritable variation. Positive connections between pollen traits and fitness have been found, but few studies of heritability have been conducted, and they have yielded conflicting results. To understand better the evolutionary significance of pollen competition and its potential role in sexual selection, the heritability of pollen tube-growth rate and the relationship between this trait and sporophytic offspring fitness were investigated in Collinsia heterophylla.

METHODS

Because the question being asked was if female function benefited from obtaining genetically superior fathers by enhancing pollen competition, one-donor (per flower) crosses were used in order to exclude confounding effects of post-fertilization competition/allocation caused by multiple paternity. Each recipient plant was crossed with an average of five pollen donors. Pollen-tube growth rate and sporophytic traits were measured in both generations.

KEY RESULTS

Pollen-tube growth rate in vitro differed among donors, and the differences were correlated with in vivo growth rate averaged over two to four maternal plants. Pollen-tube growth rate showed significant narrow-sense heritability and evolvability in a father-offspring regression. However, this pollen trait did not correlate significantly with sporophytic-offspring fitness.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that pollen-tube growth rate can respond to selection via male function. The data presented here do not provide any support for the hypothesis that intense pollen competition enhances maternal plant fitness through increased paternity by higher-quality sporophytic fathers, although this advantage cannot be ruled out. These data are, however, consistent with the hypothesis that pollen competition is itself selectively advantageous, through both male and female function, by reducing the genetic load among successful gametophytic fathers (pollen), and reducing inbreeding depression associated with self-pollination in plants with mix-mating systems.