Reproductive systems and evolution in vascular plants

Reproductive systems and evolution in vascular plants.

Differences in the frequency with which offspring are produced asexually, through self-fertilization and through sexual outcrossing, are a predominant influence on the genetic structure of plant populations. Selfers and asexuals have fewer genotypes within populations than outcrossers with similar allele frequencies, and more genetic diversity in selfers and asexuals is a result of differences ...

Molecular evolution and genetics of postzygotic reproductive isolation in plants

In just the last few years, plant geneticists have made tremendous progress in identifying the molecular genetic basis of postzygotic reproductive isolation. With more than a dozen genes now cloned, it is clear that plant hybrid incompatibilities usually evolve via two or more mutational steps, as is predicted by the Dobzhansky-Muller model. There is evidence that natural selection or random ge...

Evolution of reproductive proteins from animals and plants.

Sexual reproduction is a fundamental biological process common among eukaryotes. Because of the significance of reproductive proteins to fitness, the diversity and rapid divergence of proteins acting at many stages of reproduction is surprising and suggests a role of adaptive diversification in reproductive protein evolution. Here we review the evolution of reproductive proteins acting at diffe...

Editorial: Evolution of Reproductive Organs in Land Plants

SHORT REVIEW Evolution of reproductive isolation in plants

Reproductive isolation is essential for the process of speciation and much has been learned in recent years about the ecology and underlying genetics of reproductive barriers. But plant species are typically isolated not by a single factor, but by a large number of different preand postzygotic barriers, and their potentially complex interactions. This phenomenon has often been ignored to date. ...