Mating strategies in flowering plants: the outcrossing-selfing paradigm and beyond

Comparisons of the causes and consequences of cross- and self-fertilization have dominated research on plant mating since Darwin's seminal work on plant reproduction. Here, I provide examples of these accomplishments, but also illustrate new approaches that emphasize the role of floral design and display in pollen dispersal and fitness gain through male function. Wide variation in outcrossing rate characterizes animal-pollinated plants. In species with large floral displays, part of the selfing component of mixed mating can arise from geitonogamy and be maladaptive because of strong inbreeding depression and pollen discounting. Floral strategies that separate the benefits of floral display from the mating costs associated with geitonogamy can resolve these conflicts by reducing lost mating opportunities through male function. The results from experiments with marker genes and floral manipulations provide evidence for the function of herkogamy and dichogamy in reducing self-pollination and promoting pollen dispersal. Evidence is also presented indicating that increased selfing resulting from changes to floral design, or geitonogamy in large clones, can act as a stimulus for the evolution of dioecy. The scope of future research on mating strategies needs to be broadened to include investigations of functional links among flowers, inflorescences and plant architecture within the framework of life-history evolution.     

Mating type and mating strategies in Neurospora

In the heterothallic species Neurospora crassa, strains of opposite mating type, A and a, must interact to give the series of events resulting in fruiting body formation, meiosis, and the generation of dormant ascospores. The mating type of a strain is specified by the DNA sequence it carries in the mating type region; strains that are otherwise isogenic can mate and produce ascospores. The DNA of the A and a regions have completely dissimilar sequences. Probing DNA from strains of each mating type with labelled sequences from the A and the a regions has shown that, unlike in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, only a single copy of a mating type sequence is present in a haploid genome. The failure to switch is explainable by the physical absence of DNA sequences characteristic of the opposite mating type. While the mating type sequences must be of the opposite kind for mating to occur in the sexual cycle, two strains of opposite mating type cannot form a stable heterokaryon during vegetative growth; instead, they fuse abortively to give a heterokaryon incompatibility reaction, which results in death of the cells along the fusion line. The DNA sequences responsible for this reaction are coextensive with those sequences in the A and a regions which are necessary to initiate fruiting body formation. The genus Neurospora also includes homothallic species--ones in which a single haploid nucleus carries all the information necessary to form fruiting bodies, undergo meiosis, and produce new haploid spores. One such species, N. terricola, contains one copy each of the A and the a sequences within each haploid genome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Mating strategies in primates: a game theoretical approach to infanticide

Infanticide by newly immigrated or newly dominant males is reported among a variety of taxa, such as birds, rodents, carnivores and primates. Here we present a game theoretical model to explain the presence and prevalence of infanticide in primate groups. We have formulated a three-player game involving two males and one female and show that the strategies of infanticide on the males' part and polyandrous mating on the females' part emerge as Nash equilibria that are stable under certain conditions. Moreover, we have identified all the Nash equilibria of the game and arranged them in a novel hierarchical scheme. Only in the subspace spanned by the males are the Nash equilibria found to be strict, and hence evolutionarily stable. We have therefore proposed a selection mechanism informed by adaptive dynamics to permit the females to transition to, and remain in, optimal equilibria after successive generations. Our model concludes that polyandrous mating by females is an optimal strategy for the females that minimizes infanticide and that infanticide confers advantage to the males only in certain regions of parameter space. We have shown that infanticide occurs during turbulent changes accompanying male immigration into the group. For changes in the dominance hierarchy within the group, we have shown that infanticide occurs only in primate groups where the chance for the killer to sire the next infant is high. These conclusions are confirmed by observations in the wild. This model thus has enabled us to pinpoint the fundamental processes behind the reproductive decisions of the players involved, which was not possible using earlier theoretical studies.     

Mating strategies based on foraging ability: an experiment with grasshoppers

Female mate choice and the benefits of this behavior are criticalaspects of Darwinian sexual selection, but they are seldom documentedbecause it is difficult to identify the male trait(s) that femalesmay be seeking. We conducted experiments with grasshoppers (Melanoplussangutnipes: Orthoptera, Acrididae) to examine this behavior.Males that feed more intensively and select a diet mix thatpermits greater food intake (food intake per body mass per time)in laboratory trials were preferentially selected by females.These better foraging males on average provide greater paternalinvestment (greater spermatophore mass) to the female, whichincreases her reproductive rate (eggs produced per body massper time). However, paternal investment may not entirely explainfemale choice of better foraging males, because these maleswere still selected even if they had their food intake restrictedor had been allowed to recently mate, which reduces spermatophoreproduction. Furthermore, males change their mating strategyin response to female choice and the foraging abilities of surroundingmales. Poorer foraging males attempt forcible copulation ratherthan displaying and allowing female choice. A male will facultativelyswitch between these strategies depending on the foraging abilitiesof the surrounding males. While females attempt to reject forciblecopulation, forcible copulation reduces the frequency with whichfemales successfully copulate with better foraging males. Therefore,males that are less "attractive" to females adopt alternativemating strategies to counter female choice which would excludethem from mating.[Behav Ecol 7: 438–444 (1996)]     

Mating strategies in Chinese culture: female risk avoiding vs. male risk taking

Previous evolutionary literature demonstrating risk taking as a male mating strategy ignored cultural influences and the function of risk avoiding for women. The present research is the first to support the hypothesis that risk taking and risk avoiding, respectively, reflect Chinese male and female mating strategies. In Study 1, when under the impression of being watched by the opposite sex, Chinese men took more risks and women took fewer risks than when watched by a same sex or alone. In Study 2, Chinese male risk taking and female risk avoiding were positively related to their mating-related evaluation of the opposite-sex observer, and these results were reinforced by behavioral findings in Study 3. The implications of the findings regarding Chinese traditional mate preference and the evolutionary mechanism behind it are discussed.     

Mating Type Interaction in Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale: Mating Induced Protoplast Release

Mating type interaction between heterothallic strains of Closteriumperacerosum-strigosum- littorale was studied during the conjugationprocess. When vegetative cells of opposite mating types weremixed under the nitrogen depleted mating conditions, the formationof conjugation-papilla and the release of the protoplast withinthe distended papilla from the gametangial cell were shown inboth the paired and unpaired cells. The protoplasts of pairedcells fused to form zygotes, while those of unpaired cells broke.When cells were mixed at a ratio of around 5 to 3 (mating typeplus to mating type minus), sexual activation occurred at thehighest frequency. Mixing at a ratio of 1 to 3, however, inducedthe highest frequency of disrupted cells. Mating type plus cellswere found to be broken specifically when direct contact withmating type minus cells was prevented. This disruption seemedto be mediated by a factor secreted from mating type minus cells. (Received March 20, 1981; Accepted August 18, 1981)     

Mating strategies and pollen limitation in a globally threatened perennial Polemonium vanbruntiae

Knowledge of the factors that limit reproduction is critical to an understanding of plant ecology, and is particularly important for predicting population viability for threatened species. Here, we investigated the pollination biology of a globally threatened plant, Polemonium vanbruntiae, using hand-pollination experiments in four natural populations to determine the degree of pollen limitation. In addition, we investigated the mating system and extent to which plants can self-fertilize by comparing geitonogamously and autonomously self-fertilized plants with purely outcrossed and open-pollinated plants. In contrast to several of the more common species of Polemonium, we found no pollen limitation in any of the four populations of P. vanbruntiae over two years. The lack of pollen limitation was best explained by the capacity for P. vanbruntiae to both geitonogamously and autonomously self-fertilize, unlike some of its more common congeners. Geitonogamously selfed flowers set equivalent numbers of seeds when compared to purely outcrossed and open-pollinated flowers. However, autonomously selfed flowers produced significantly fewer seeds, demonstrating that pollinators play an important role as inter- and intra-plant pollen vectors in this system. Our results support the reproductive assurance hypothesis, whereby the ability to self assures fertilization for plants in small populations. Self-compatibility in Polemonium vanbruntiae may decrease extinction risk of isolated populations experiencing a stochastic pollinator pool within a restricted geographic range. In addition, a mixed-mating strategy, including the ability for clonal reproduction, may explain the ability for this rare species to persist in small, fragmented populations.     

Women in cell biology: getting to the top

Those who write about women scientists tend to treat us as a group, documenting our demise at each career stage and discussing measures to prevent this. By contrast, my approach has been to focus on individual women who have 'made it' in science and to ask how their careers have been affected by their sex. Some positive conclusions emerge, but the overall picture is disheartening.     

Vesicular adenitis of bulls: A review

The prevalence of inflammatory disease of the vesicular glands can be as high as 49% in some groups of bulls under common management conditions. Since these bulls are classified as questionable or unsatisfactory potential breeders, this disease can cause significant economic loss to the producer. The current knowledge of the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention are discussed.     

The Syngens of Paramecium bursaria: New Mating Types and Intersyngenic Mating Reactions

SYNOPSIS. Three syngens of Paramecium bursaria have been identified amongst stocks collected in Scotland. These syngens probably correspond to the previously-described syngens 4, 5 and 6; they have been so named. In all 3 syngens 8 mating types have been found. An extensive series of intersyngenic mating reactions has been discovered between stocks of syngens 4 and 5, and between stocks of syngen 2 and syngens 4 and 5.     

Plant hormone signaling: getting the message out

Molecular genetic analysis has identified a variety of molecules that are required for correct signaling of the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA). It now appears that proteins involved in RNA metabolism also modulate the ABA response in Arabidopsis.