Abstract
EVOLUTIONARILY successful outcrossing plants have spontaneous seed sets that are, on average, around 50% (±20%), but those of woody species are lower (33%) and herbaceous perennials higher (57% ); self-pollinating (autogamous) species average about 85%1–3. Dedeckera, an outcrossing (protandrous) evolutionary relict from the Mojave desert of California has a seed set of only 2.5% and no means of vegetative reproduction. We show here that the most probable explanation for this exceptional result is that there are genetically mediated embryonic abnormalities. The percentage of fully viable seeds is further reduced by low viability, germinability, and post-germination developmental failure. Genetic studies involving extinction have emphasized inbreeding depression and homozygosity4–8, but Dedeckera is highly heterozygous (27%). Outcrossing does not significantly increase seed set over selfing, suggesting that a high segregational genetic load is primarily responsible for the low seed set in Dedeckera. Such loss of reproductive capacity could explain the relictual nature of Dedeckera and might ultimately result in its extinction.
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Wiens, D., Nickrent, D., Davern, C. et al. Developmental failure and loss of reproductive capacity in the rare palaeoendemic shrub Dedeckera eurekensis. Nature 338, 65–67 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/338065a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/338065a0
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