1. Ecology
  2. Evolutionary Biology
Download icon

Inbreeding in a dioecious plant has sex- and population origin-specific effects on its interactions with pollinators

  1. Karin Schrieber  Is a corresponding author
  2. Sarah Catherine Paul
  3. Levke Valena Höche
  4. Andrea Cecilia Salas
  5. Rabi Didszun
  6. Jakob Mößnang
  7. Caroline Müller
  8. Alexandra Erfmeier
  9. Elisabeth Eilers
  1. Kiel University, Germany
  2. Bielefeld University, Germany
Research Article
  • Cited 0
  • Views 482
  • Annotations
Cite this article as: eLife 2021;10:e65610 doi: 10.7554/eLife.65610

Abstract

We study the effects of inbreeding in a dioecious plant on its interaction with pollinating insects and test whether the magnitude of such effects is shaped by plant individual sex and the evolutionary histories of plant populations. We recorded spatial, scent, colour and rewarding flower traits as well as pollinator visitation rates in experimentally inbred and outbred, male and female Silene latifolia plants from European and North American populations differing in their evolutionary histories. We found that inbreeding specifically impairs spatial flower traits and floral scent. Our results support that sex-specific selection and gene expression may have partially magnified these inbreeding costs for females, and that divergent evolutionary histories altered the genetic architecture underlying inbreeding effects across population origins. Moreover, the results indicate that inbreeding effects on floral scent may have a huge potential to disrupt interactions among plants and nocturnal moth pollinators, which are mediated by elaborate chemical communication.

Data availability

All datasets and analyses supporting this article have been deposited to Dryad, under the DOI 10.5061/dryad.612jm643d

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Karin Schrieber

    Geobotany, Institute for Ecosystem Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
    For correspondence
    kschrieber@ecology.uni-kiel.de
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-7181-2741

  2. Sarah Catherine Paul

    Department of Chemical Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Levke Valena Höche

    Geobotany, Institute for Ecosystem Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Andrea Cecilia Salas

    Geobotany, Institute for Ecosystem Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Rabi Didszun

    Geobotany, Institute for Ecosystem Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  6. Jakob Mößnang

    Geobotany, Institute for Ecosystem Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  7. Caroline Müller

    Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  8. Alexandra Erfmeier

    Geobotany, Institute for Ecosystem Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-1002-9216

  9. Elisabeth Eilers

    Department of Chemical Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

Kiel University, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, program for promotion of young female scientists

  • Karin Schrieber
  • Alexandra Erfmeier

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Youngsung Joo, Chungbuk National University, Republic of Korea

Publication history

  1. Received: December 9, 2021
  2. Accepted: May 9, 2021
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: May 14, 2021 (version 1)
  4. Version of Record published: May 27, 2021 (version 2)
  5. Version of Record updated: June 3, 2021 (version 3)

Copyright

© 2021, Schrieber et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Metrics

  • 482
    Page views
  • 43
    Downloads
  • 0
    Citations

Article citation count generated by polling the highest count across the following sources: Crossref, PubMed Central, Scopus.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Download citations (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Categories and tags

Further reading

    1. Ecology
    2. Neuroscience

    Natural History of Model Organisms: Neurogenomic insights into the behavior and vocal development of the zebra finch

    Mark E Hauber et al.
    Feature Article

    The zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) is a socially monogamous and colonial opportunistic breeder with pronounced sexual differences in singing and plumage coloration. Its natural history has led to it becoming a model species for research into sex differences in vocal communication, as well as behavioral, neural and genomic theories of imitative auditory learning. As scientists tap into the genetic and behavioral diversity of both wild and captive lineages, the zebra finch will continue to inform research into culture, learning and social bonding, as well as adaptability to a changing climate.

    1. Ecology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Pleiotropic mutations can rapidly evolve to directly benefit self and cooperative partner despite unfavorable conditions

    Samuel Frederick Mock Hart et al.
    Research Advance Updated

    Cooperation, paying a cost to benefit others, is widespread. Cooperation can be promoted by pleiotropic ‘win-win’ mutations which directly benefit self (self-serving) and partner (partner-serving). Previously, we showed that partner-serving should be defined as increased benefit supply rate per intake benefit. Here, we report that win-win mutations can rapidly evolve even under conditions unfavorable for cooperation. Specifically, in a well-mixed environment we evolved engineered yeast cooperative communities where two strains exchanged costly metabolites, lysine and hypoxanthine. Among cells that consumed lysine and released hypoxanthine, ecm21 mutations repeatedly arose. ecm21 is self-serving, improving self’s growth rate in limiting lysine. ecm21 is also partner-serving, increasing hypoxanthine release rate per lysine consumption and the steady state growth rate of partner and of community. ecm21 also arose in monocultures evolving in lysine-limited chemostats. Thus, even without any history of cooperation or pressure to maintain cooperation, pleiotropic win-win mutations may readily evolve to promote cooperation.

    1. Ecology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Understanding the evolution of multiple drug resistance in structured populations

    David V McLeod, Sylvain Gandon
    Research Article

    The evolution of multidrug resistance (MDR) is a pressing public health concern. Yet many aspects, such as the role played by population structure, remain poorly understood. Here we argue that studying MDR evolution by focusing upon the dynamical equations for linkage disequilibrium (LD) can greatly simplify the calculations, generate more insight, and provide a unified framework for understanding the role of population structure. We demonstrate how a general epidemiological model of MDR evolution can be recast in terms of the LD equations. These equations reveal how the different forces generating and propagating LD operate in a dynamical setting at both the population and metapopulation levels. We then apply these insights to show how the LD perspective: (i) explains equilibrium patterns of MDR, (ii) provides a simple interpretative framework for transient evolutionary dynamics, and (iii) can be used to assess the consequences of different drug prescription strategies for MDR evolution.