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Heterostyly and the possibility of its breakdown by polyploidization
Author(s) -
NAIKI AKIYO
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
plant species biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1442-1984
pISSN - 0913-557X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-1984.2011.00363.x
Subject(s) - heterostyly , primulaceae , outcrossing , biology , ploidy , botany , rubiaceae , evolutionary biology , genetics , pollination , pollen , gene
Heterostyly is a genetically controlled sexual polymorphism promoting outcrossing by animal pollinators. The occurrence of heterostyly in angiosperms was investigated, and 199 genera in 28 families in 15 orders were recognized as taxa that contain heterostylous species. A correlation between the occurrence of heterostyly and ploidy level was found in some limited groups in Primulaceae and Rubiaceae. In such taxa, individuals with a lower ploidy level tended to have heterostyly and individuals with a higher ploidy level tended to have monomorphic flowers. It appears reasonable that the first step of the breakdown of heterostyly was the recombination of the supergene in a diploid heterostylous plant, and then poyploidization incidentally occurred. Polyploidization itself does not necessarily appear to have direct effects on the breakdown of heterostyly.