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Antagonism between local dispersal and self‐incompatibility systems in a continuous plant population
Author(s) -
CARTWRIGHT REED A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2009.04180.x
Subject(s) - biology , selfing , inbreeding , biological dispersal , outbreeding depression , outcrossing , mating system , population , evolutionary biology , antagonism , inbreeding avoidance , ecology , genetics , mating , pollen , mate choice , demography , receptor , sociology
Many self‐incompatible plant species exist in continuous populations in which individuals disperse locally. Local dispersal of pollen and seeds facilitates inbreeding because pollen pools are likely to contain relatives. Self‐incompatibility promotes outbreeding because relatives are likely to carry incompatible alleles. Therefore, populations can experience an antagonism between these forces. In this study, a novel computational model is used to explore the effects of this antagonism on gene flow, allelic diversity, neighbourhood sizes, and identity by descent. I confirm that this antagonism is sensitive to dispersal levels and linkage. However, the results suggest that there is little to no difference between the effects of gametophytic and sporophytic self‐incompatibility systems (GSI and SSI) on unlinked loci. More importantly, both GSI and SSI affect unlinked loci in a manner similar to obligate outcrossing without mating types. This suggests that the primary evolutionary impact of self‐incompatibility systems may be to prevent selfing, and prevention of biparental inbreeding might be a beneficial side‐effect.