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Differential effects of polyploidy and diploidy on fitness of apomictic Boechera

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Abstract

The co-occurrence of apomixis (asexual reproduction) and polyploidy in plants has been the subject of debate in regard to the origin and evolution of asexuality. In recent years, polyploidy has been postulated as a maintenance and stabilization factor rather than as a source of apomixis origin. It is assumed polyploidy facilitates the compensation for mutation accumulation, and hence, the rare occurrence of diploid apomixis indirectly supports this finding. Nevertheless, diploid apomicts exist and are successful, especially in the genus Boechera. While comparing phenotypic traits, fitness-related traits and apomixis penetrance between both diploid and triploid apomicts in the genus Boechera, it was expected to find trait variance that can be attributed to ploidy. Surprisingly, little trait variation could be assigned to ploidy, but rather trait variations were mainly genotype-specific. Additionally, it is shown that paternal contribution is very important for trait success, even though all offspring are genetically identical to the mother plant. This harbors implications for the introduction of apomixis into crop plants, considering the effects of paternal contribution during asexual reproduction. Nevertheless, polyploidy is an efficient way to buffer deleterious mutations, but the flexibility of diploid apomicts of the genus Boechera for rare sexual events contributes to their success in nature.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank H. Block, V. Katzorke and L. Börner for technical assistance. We furthermore extend our gratitude to Tom Mitchell-Olds for providing seed material, to Marcus Koch for help with genotype identification, and to Johann Greilhuber for his assistance in DNA content terminology. MP was partly supported by scholarship DAAD/IAESTE and by a grant for short visits of young researchers from Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Marie-Luise Voigt-Zielinski

    Present address: Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 3, 1030, Vienna, Austria

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Apomixis Research Group, Department of Cytogenetics and Genome Analysis, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, 06466, Gatersleben, Germany

    Marie-Luise Voigt-Zielinski & Timothy F. Sharbel

  2. Department of Animal Ecology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Gagarina Street 9, PL-87-100, Toruń, Poland

    Marcin Piwczyński

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  1. Marie-Luise Voigt-Zielinski
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Voigt-Zielinski, ML., Piwczyński, M. & Sharbel, T.F. Differential effects of polyploidy and diploidy on fitness of apomictic Boechera . Sex Plant Reprod 25, 97–109 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-012-0181-8

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