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Expressivity of apomixis in 2n + n hybrids from an apomictic and a sexual parent: insights into variation detected in Pilosella (Asteraceae: Lactuceae)

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Abstract

Reproductive variation was studied in the tetraploid Pilosella aurantiaca, hexaploid P. rubra (both species with facultative autonomous apospory) and in their 2n + n hybrids, which were obtained by crossing with a sexual pollen parent (tetraploid P. officinarum). The different DNA content in P. aurantiaca and P. officinarum demonstrated the actual 2n + n origin, both spontaneous from the field and through experimental crosses, of their hexaploid hybrids. The octoploid 2n + n progeny were recovered from an experimental cross of P. rubra and P. officinarum. The reproductive pathways operating in two maternal facultatively apomictic species and in the hybrids were quantified using a flow cytometric analysis of seeds obtained from either open-pollinated or emasculated plants. Whereas both maternal species displayed a high penetrance of apomixis, the level of apomixis among the majority of 2n + n hybrids was much lower and variable. Some of the hexaploid hybrids had a reduced seed set. Compared to the respective maternal parents, the decrease in apomixis due to haploid parthenogenesis and/or n + n mating was evident in almost all unreduced hybrids, irrespective of their field/experimental origin and ploidy. Hence, the reproductive behaviour in the apomictic maternal parent was profoundly different from that of the 2n + n hybrids with a sexual parent in spite of the preservation of the complete maternal genome in the hybrids. The regulatory interactions in hybrid genomes, such as effects of modifiers, heterochrony, and epigenetic control, may be consistent with the different expressivity of apomixis observed under different genetic backgrounds.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Olga Rotreklová for her assistance in flow cytometric seed screening and in the field work, Ivana Plačková for isozyme analyses, and Uwe Raabe for providing seed material and organising the collection excursion. We also thank Stáňa Papoušková who provided us with some hybrid plants and Monika Flégrová for her assistance in statistical analysis. Radim Vašut and two anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for critical comments of the previous versions of the manuscript. This study was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (project no. 206/08/0890) and by long-term institutional research plan AVOZ60050516 from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Průhonice, CZ-252 43, Czech Republic

    Anna Krahulcová & František Krahulec

  2. Department of Botany, National Museum, Praha—Horní Počernice, CZ-19300, Czech Republic

    Radka Rosenbaumová

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  1. Anna Krahulcová
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  2. František Krahulec
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  3. Radka Rosenbaumová
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Correspondence to Anna Krahulcová.

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Communicated by Thomas Dresselhaus.

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Krahulcová, A., Krahulec, F. & Rosenbaumová, R. Expressivity of apomixis in 2n + n hybrids from an apomictic and a sexual parent: insights into variation detected in Pilosella (Asteraceae: Lactuceae). Sex Plant Reprod 24, 63–74 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-010-0152-x

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