Mating system evolution: conflicts in sexual reproduction and switch in reproductive systems
Several pollen donors may fertilize the many ovules on a single plant. When that occurs, there can be a conflict over provisioning seeds between pollen donors and the mother plant. This conflict should be particularly strong in outcrossing taxa. We study whether imprinted genes known to affect growth of developing seeds interact and determine the outcome of this coevolutionary battle between the sexes. This work involved crossing experiments with Arabidopsis lyrata and analysis of gene expression. Furthermore, we work on the genomic basis of the breakdown of self-incompatibility in A. lyrata
Project of: Olivier Bachmann, Kay Lucek, Susanna Riedl
