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Unreduced gametes, sperm or egg cells with the somatic chromosome number, are an important mechanism of polyploid formation and gene flow between heteroploid plants. The meiotic processes leading to unreduced gamete formation are well documented, but the relative influence of environmental and genetic factors on the frequency of unreduced gametes remain largely untested. Furthermore, direct estimates of unreduced gametes based on DNA content are technically challenging and, hence, uncommon. Here, we use flow cytometry to measure the contribution of genetic (hybridization) and environmental (nutrient limitation, wounding) changes to unreduced male gamete production in Brassica napus, Sinapis arvensis and two hybrid lines. Treatments were applied to greenhouse grown plants in a random factorial design, with pollen sampled at two time intervals. Overall, the frequency of unreduced gametes averaged 0.59% (range 0.06-2.17%), plus a single outlier with 27%. Backcrossed hybrids had 39 to 75% higher unreduced gamete production than parental genotypes, averaged across all treatments, although the statistical significance of these differences depended on sampling period and wounding treatment. Unreduced gamete frequencies were higher for the second sampling period than the first. There were no direct effects of wounding or nutrient regime. Our results indicate that both genetic and environmental factors can induce increased unreduced gametes, highlighting the potential importance of environmental heterogeneity and genetic composition of populations in driving polyploid evolution.

Genetic and environmental determinants of unreduced gamete production in Brassica napus, Sinapis arvensis and their hybrids