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Flexible mating system in distylous populations of Psychotria carthagenensis Jacq. (Rubiaceae) in Brazilian Cerrado

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Abstract

In family Rubiaceae distyly is very common, and large variation in heterostyly characteristics has been previously documented. Analysis of these variations, even within a species, is very useful to our understanding of the evolutionary process that caused this polymorphism. For this reason, the goal of this study is to investigate the floral morphology and diallelic incompatibility system of three populations of Psychotria carthagenensis. The three studied populations of P. carthagenensis occur in forest fragments in protected areas in an urban matrix in the Municipality of Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Reciprocal position of style length and stamen height was found in populations, and in general short-styled flowers were larger than long-styled flowers. All populations presented 1:1 morph ratio between short-styled and long-styled flowers. Regarding breeding system, flowers of P. carthagenensis were self-compatible and compatible within plants of the same morph, and there was no pollen limitation in the populations in any case. In only one of the populations were there differences in the extent of compatibility between morphs, with the long-styled morph being more self-compatible than the short-styled morph. The reproductive strategy of these populations can be advantageous in case of fluctuation of pollinator activity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank V. Pott for identifying the plants, P. Menezes and V.A. Laura for facilitating access to the PEP and EMBRAPA reserves, respectively, and M.R. Sigrist, A.P.L. Lemke, and C.C. Castro for helpful comments. Fundação de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Ensino, Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul (FUNDECT)/Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) provided R.R.F. with a doctoral fellowship (41/100.271/2006); CAPES provided R.R.F. with a grant in the Sandwich Doctorate Program (1964/10-0); FUNDECT provided financial support for the study (23/200.288/2008). L.N. was supported by the Spanish Dirección General de Investigación, Ciencia y Tecnología (DGICYT) through grants CGL2009-10466, the Xunta de Galicia through grant INCITE09-3103009PR, FEDER funds from the European Union and projects AECID A/023710/09, and CYTED 409AC0369, and the work of V.F. was supported by the Fundación Ramón Areces.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Cidade Universitária s/n°, Caixa Postal 549, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, CEP 79070-900, Brazil

    Rogério Rodrigues Faria

  2. Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, PO Box 3046, 3001-401, Coimbra, Portugal

    Victoria Ferrero

  3. Department of Plant Biology and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Vigo, As Lagoas-Marcosende, 36200, Vigo, Spain

    Victoria Ferrero & Luis Navarro

  4. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Caixa Postal 549, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, CEP 79070-900, Brazil

    Andréa Cardoso Araujo

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  1. Rogério Rodrigues Faria
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  2. Victoria Ferrero
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  3. Luis Navarro
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  4. Andréa Cardoso Araujo
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Correspondence to Rogério Rodrigues Faria.

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Faria, R.R., Ferrero, V., Navarro, L. et al. Flexible mating system in distylous populations of Psychotria carthagenensis Jacq. (Rubiaceae) in Brazilian Cerrado. Plant Syst Evol 298, 619–627 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0571-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0571-7

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