Dioecy in Amborella trichopoda evidence for genetically based sex determination and its consequences for inferences of the breeding system in early angiosperms

• Published in: Annals of botany Vol. 119; no. 4; pp. 591 - 597
• Main Authors: Anger, Nicolas, Fogliani, Bruno, Scutt, Charles P., Gâteblé, Gildas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01.03.2017; Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Subjects: Biological Evolution; Life Sciences; Magnoliopsida - genetics; Magnoliopsida - physiology; Original; ORIGINAL ARTICLES; Phylogeny; Reproduction - genetics; Reproduction - physiology; Sex Determination Processes - genetics; Sex Determination Processes - physiology; Amborella trichopoda, ANA grade; Dioecy; flowering plants; angiosperms; sex determination; sex ratio; dioecy; système reproducteur; dioécie; ANA grade; angiosperme; amborella trichopoda; plante à fleurs
• ISSN: 0305-7364; 1095-8290
• DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcw278

This work aimed to gain insight into the breeding system at the base of living angiosperms through both character state reconstructions and the study of sex ratios and phenotypes in the likely sister to all other living angiosperms, Amborella trichopoda . Sex phenotypes were mapped onto a phylogeny of basally diverging angiosperms using maximum parsimony. In parallel, sex ratios and phenotypes were studied over two consecutive flowering seasons in an ex situ population of A. trichopoda , while the sex ratio of an in situ population was also assessed. Parsimony analyses failed to resolve the breeding system present at the base of living angiosperms, but indicated the importance of A. trichopoda for the future elucidation of this question. The ex situ A. trichopoda population studied showed a primary sex ratio close to 1:1, though sex ratio bias was found in the in situ population studied. Instances of sexual instability were quantified in both populations. Sex ratio data support the presence of genetic sex determination in A. trichopoda , whose further elucidation may guide inferences on the breeding system at the base of living angiosperms. Sexual instability in A. trichopoda suggests the operation of epigenetic mechanisms, and the evolution of dioecy via a gynodioecious intermediate.