Mating systems in Brassicaceae: Self-incompatibility system in the genus Capsella at the molecular and phenotypic level

• Applicant: Dr. Barbara Neuffer
• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi
• Term: from 2002 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5362195

In the Brassicaceae, self-incompatibility (SI) is thought to be ancestral to self-compatibility (SC). The breakdown of SI facilitates self-fertilization and allows for a mixed mating system. Such a breeding system provides new adaptive strategies by combining the advantages of both, outcrossing and selfing. Numerous examples within the Brassicaceae prove that the breakdown of SI is a key event in speciation and of high adaptive significance. The aim of the project is to understand the molecular basis for the transition from SI to SC which has apparently happened often and independently from each other. Moving out from the genetic model plants Brassica and Arabidopsis we concentrate on genera with well known phylogenies and with well known species biologies. The closer these genera are to the models Brassica and Arabidopsis the better is the chance to relate the model to the wild plants. For these reasons, we have chosen species from the genera Diplotaxis and Capsella. Their S-locus will be identified and characterised. We will focus on SLG and SRK genes because it is suggested that mutations within these genes are responsible for the breakdown of SI. Diplotaxis and Capsella are distantly related and should therefore provide evidence for or against different molecular mechanisms for the breakdown of SI.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1127: Radiations - Origins of Biological Diversity