Abstract
BackgroundSexual conflict theory predicts sexually antagonistic coevolution of reproductive traits driven by conflicting evolutionary interests of two reproducing individuals. Most studies of the evolutionary consequences of sexual conflicts have, however, to date collectively investigated only a few species. In this study we used the annual herb Collinsia heterophylla to experimentally test the existence and evolutionary consequences of a potential sexual conflict over onset of stigma receptivity.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe conducted crosses within and between four greenhouse-grown populations originating from two regions. Our experimental setup allowed us to investigate male-female interactions at three levels of geographic distances between interacting individuals. Both recipient and pollen donor identity affected onset of stigma receptivity within populations, confirming previous results that some pollen donors can induce stigma receptivity. We also found that donors were generally better at inducing stigma receptivity following pollen deposition on stigmas of recipients from another population than their own, especially within a region. On the other hand, we found that donors did worse at inducing stigma receptivity in crosses between regions. Interestingly, recipient costs in terms of lowered seed number after early fertilisation followed the same pattern: the cost was apparent only if the pollen donor belonged to the same region as the recipient.Conclusion/SignificanceOur results indicate that recipients are released from the cost of interacting with local pollen donors when crossed with donors from a more distant location, a pattern consistent with a history of sexually antagonistic coevolution within populations. Accordingly, sexual conflicts may have important evolutionary consequences also in plants.
Highlights
Sexual conflict is tacitly believed to concern the differing interests of a male and a female during reproductive interactions, whereas it is a conflict between two reproducing individuals, whether these are unisexual or hermaphroditic [1,2,3,4]
Crosses between populations in general resulted in earlier start of stigma receptivity, indicating that pollen donors had a greater success at inducing stigma receptivity if the recipient did not belong to the same population as the donor
In this study on Collinsia heterophylla we found that onset of stigma receptivity was affected by the identity of the individual serving as recipient or pollen donor, and by the geographic distance between the populations from which the recipient and donor originated
Summary
Sexual conflict is tacitly believed to concern the differing interests of a male and a female during reproductive interactions, whereas it is a conflict between two reproducing individuals, whether these are unisexual or hermaphroditic [1,2,3,4]. Even though donors that produce early-germinating pollen will be affected by this cost, the ability to induce stigma receptivity could still be selected for if this trait results in a higher fertilisation success (e.g. by securing paternity) [cf 10]. Because these results are consistent with a sexual conflict, further studies have the potential to generate important knowledge of the generality of sexual conflict theory. Sexual conflict theory predicts sexually antagonistic coevolution of reproductive traits driven by conflicting evolutionary interests of two reproducing individuals. In this study we used the annual herb Collinsia heterophylla to experimentally test the existence and evolutionary consequences of a potential sexual conflict over onset of stigma receptivity
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