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Contrasting heterozygosity-fitness correlations between populations of a self-compatible shrub in a fragmented landscape

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Abstract

The mechanisms underlying heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs) are subject of intense debates, especially about how important population features such as size or degree of isolation influence HFCs. Here, we report variation in HFCs between Large and Small populations of a self-compatible shrub (Myrtus communis) occurring within an extremely fragmented landscape. In each of the five study populations, we obtained data on both heterozygosity and fitness for 9–12 maternal families (i.e. offspring from the same mother plant). Whereas heterozygosity explained most of the variance (60–86 %) in growth rate of seedling families within Large populations, this relationship was absent within Small populations. Our results suggest that inbreeding may explain the observed HFCs within Large populations, and that different genetic processes (such as genetic drift and/or selection) could have overridden HFCs within Small populations. While it is difficult to draw general conclusions from five populations, we think our results open new research perspectives on how different genetic processes underlie variation in HFCs under different population contexts. Our study also points to a need for further attention on the complex relationships between heterozygosity in self-compatible plants and their progeny in relation to mating system variation. Finally, our results provide interesting new insights into how population genetic diversity is maintained or lost in a highly fragmented landscape.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Sofia Vilaça Nora for her help and the ‘Servicio de Invernadero de la Universidad de Sevilla’ for its assistance in the greenhouse experiment. We are also very grateful to John R. Pannell and Patrice David whose helpful comments greatly improved earlier versions of this article. This study was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (project CGL2008-000938/BOS) and the Andalusian Regional Government (Excellence Grants P06-RNM-01499, P07-RNM-02869 and P09-RNM-5280), and partially by a grant (HF2008-0040) for Spain-France integrative actions from the MICINN programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de La Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain

    Juan P. González-Varo

  2. Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

    Abelardo Aparicio, Juan Arroyo & Rafael G. Albaladejo

  3. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, UMR 5553 CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France

    Sébastien Lavergne

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  1. Juan P. González-Varo
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  2. Abelardo Aparicio
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  3. Sébastien Lavergne
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  4. Juan Arroyo
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  5. Rafael G. Albaladejo
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Correspondence to Juan P. González-Varo.

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González-Varo, J.P., Aparicio, A., Lavergne, S. et al. Contrasting heterozygosity-fitness correlations between populations of a self-compatible shrub in a fragmented landscape. Genetica 140, 31–38 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-012-9655-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-012-9655-8

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