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Long‐term monitoring of B‐chromosome invasion and neutralization in a population of Prospero autumnale (Asparagaceae)
Author(s) -
Lanzas Pedro,
Perfectti Francisco,
GarridoRamos Manuel A.,
RuízRejón Carmelo,
GonzálezSánchez Mónica,
Puertas María,
Camacho Juan Pedro M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/evo.13501
Subject(s) - biology , asparagaceae , b chromosome , population , mendelian inheritance , genetics , chromosome , offspring , karyotype , botany , gene , demography , pregnancy , sociology
B chromosomes have been reported in about 15% of eukaryotes, but long‐term dynamics of B chromosomes in a single natural population has rarely been analyzed. Prospero autumnale plants collected in 1981 and 1983 at Cuesta de La Palma population had shown the presence of B chromosomes. We analyze here seven additional samples collected between 1987 and 2015, and show that B frequency increased significantly during the 1980s and showed minor fluctuations between 2005 and 2015. A mother–offspring analysis of B chromosome transmission, at population level, showed significant drive on the male side ( k B = 0.65) and significant drag on the female side ( k B = 0.33), with average B transmission rate being very close to the Mendelian rate (0.5). No significant effects of B chromosomes were observed on a number of vigor and fertility‐related traits. Within a parasite/host framework, these results suggest that B chromosomes’ drive on the male side is the main pathway for B chromosome invasion, whereas B chromosome drag on the female side might be the main manifestation of host genome resistance in this species. Prospero autumnale thus illuminates a novel evolutionary pathway for B chromosome neutralization by means of a decrease in B transmission through the nondriving sex.