On the rarity of dioecy in flowering plants.
Details
Serval ID
serval:BIB_621CB7688AAD
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Review (review): journal as complete as possible of one specific subject, written based on exhaustive analyses from published work.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
On the rarity of dioecy in flowering plants.
Journal
Molecular Ecology
ISSN
1365-294X (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0962-1083
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2017
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
26
Number
5
Pages
1225-1241
Language
english
Abstract
Dioecy, the coexistence of separate male and female individuals in a population, is a rare but phylogenetically widespread sexual system in flowering plants. While research has concentrated on why and how dioecy evolves from hermaphroditism, the question of why dioecy is rare, despite repeated transitions to it, has received much less attention. Previous phylogenetic and theoretical studies have suggested that dioecy might be an evolutionary dead end. However, recent research indicates that the phylogenetic support for this hypothesis is attributable to a methodological bias and that there is no evidence for reduced diversification in dioecious angiosperms. The relative rarity of dioecy thus remains a puzzle. Here, we review evidence for the hypothesis that dioecy might be rare not because it is an evolutionary dead end, but rather because it easily reverts to hermaphroditism. We review what is known about transitions between hermaphroditism and dioecy, and conclude that there is an important need to consider more widely the possibility of transitions away from dioecy, both from an empirical and a theoretical point of view, and by combining tools from molecular evolution and insights from ecology.
Keywords
angiosperms, Dollo's law, evolutionary dead end, leaky dioecy, reproductive assurance, sexual systems
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
30/01/2017 20:34
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:19