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Gene flow among small populations of a self‐incompatible plant: an interaction between demography and genetics
Author(s) -
Goodell Karen,
Elam Diane R.,
Nason John D.,
Ellstrand Norman C.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.2307/2446134
Subject(s) - biology , gene flow , population genetics , quantitative genetics , genetics , evolutionary biology , demography , gene , population , genetic variation , sociology
We assessed the effects of population size and genetic relatedness on rates of pollen gene flow into experimental populations of the insect‐pollinated, self‐incompatible plant Raphanus sativus . We created synthetic populations of sizes 2, 5, 10, and 20 with three genetic structures (full siblings, half siblings, and unrelated plants). Following pollination in a natural setting, we conducted a simple paternity exclusion analysis using the allozyme genotypes of progeny to measure apparent gene flow and Monte Carlo simulations to estimate total gene flow. Estimates of apparent pollen gene flow rates ranged from 0 to 100% and were similar in rank to estimates of total gene flow. There were significant effects of population size and relatedness on the rate of apparent gene flow, and there were significant population size by relatedness interactions. Populations of size 2 had higher gene flow rates than larger populations, gene flow being negatively associated with the level of cross‐compatibility (as measured by hand pollinations). Gene flow into populations of size 2 was also negatively associated with the distance to the nearest population of size 10 or 20. These results suggest that interactions among demography (population size), genetics (cross‐compatibility), and ecology (pollinator behavior) are important influences on pollen gene flow rates into small plant populations.