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Effects of pollen load size and composition on pollen donor performance in wild radish, Raphanus sativus (Brassicaceae)¹

⁰ Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 USA

A critical concern in the debate over the importance of sexual selection in plants is whether the nonrandom mating demonstrable in greenhouse crosses can occur in the field. Field populations likely experience smaller and more variable pollen load sizes than those that have been used in many greenhouse experiments. Therefore, we performed a greenhouse experiment in which we varied both pollen load size and composition in wild radish, Raphanus sativus, and examined the paternity of seeds. We used five maternal plants and four pairs of pollen donors. We were able to produce pollen loads of 40, 118, and 258 grains per stigma. The smallest of the pollen loads was scant enough to result in a slight, but significant reduction in seed number per fruit. While variation in pollen load composition significantly affected the proportions of seeds fathered by different donors, variation in pollen load size did not. The relative performance of different donors was constant across pollen load sizes, suggesting that, for this species, differential performance of pollen donors can occur at pollen load sizes that are likely to occur in field populations.

Key Words: Brassicaceae • pollen competition • Raphanus sativus • seed paternity • sexual selection • wild radish

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. A. Koelling and K. Karoly Self-pollen interference is absent in wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum, Brassicaceae), a species with sporophytic self-incompatibility Am. J. Botany, May 1, 2007; 94(5): 896 - 900. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. G. M. Shaner and D. L. Marshall How robust is nonrandom mating in wild radish: do small pollen loads coupled with more competing pollen donors lead to random mating? Am. J. Botany, February 1, 2007; 94(2): 266 - 273. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. G. M. Shaner and D. L. Marshall Under how wide a set of conditions will nonrandom mating occur in Raphanus sativus (Brassicaceae)? Am. J. Botany, November 1, 2003; 90(11): 1604 - 1611. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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