Inbreeding depression is one of the hypotheses explaining the maintenance of females within gynodioecious plant populations. However, the measurement of fitness components in selfed and outcrossed progeny depends on life-cycle stage and the history of inbreeding. Comparative data indicate that strong inbreeding depression is more likely to occur at later life-cycle stages. We used hermaphrodite...

The inheritance of mitochondrial genetic (mtDNA) markers in the gynodioecious plant Silene vulgaris was studied using a series of controlled crosses between parents of known mtDNA genotype followed by quantitative PCR assays of offspring genotype. Overall, approximately 2.5% of offspring derived from crosses between individuals that were homoplasmic for different mtDNA marker genotypes showed e...

Aims The aim of the present study was to compare lead accumulation and tolerance among heavy metal hyperaccumulating and non-hyperaccumulating metallophytes. Methods To this purpose, we compared Pb tolerance and accumulation in hydroponics among calamine and non-calamine populations of Silene vulgaris, Noccaea caerulescens, and Matthiola flavida. We established the effects of Ca on Pb tolerance...

Both the chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes are used extensively in studies of plant population genetics and systematics. In the majority of angiosperms, the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are each primarily transmitted maternally, but rare biparental transmission is possible. The extent to which the cpDNA and mtDNA are in linkage disequilibrium is argued to be depende...

In this study, we analysed the impact of heavy metals and plant rhizodeposition on the structure of indigenous microbial communities in rhizosphere and bulk soil that had been exposed to heavy metals for more than 150 years. Samples of the rhizosphere of Silene vulgaris and non-rhizosphere soils 250 and 450 m from the source of emission that had different metal concentrations were collected for...