How plants evolved uneven molecular locks to avoid inbreeding
Chantreau M, Poux C, Lensink MF, Brysbaert G, Vekemans X, Castric V.
Plant Signaling
Every time you save seed from your garden, you're working with the same molecular machinery this research corrects: plants that can't self-fertilize depend on these receptor systems to seek out genetically different partners, directly shaping the seed diversity you'll plant next season.
Plants have a built-in way to avoid fertilizing themselves: pollen carries a chemical signal, and the flower's surface has a matching receptor that either accepts or rejects it. This research looked at how that recognition system evolved in a common weedy plant and found the two sides didn't keep pace with each other. One half of the pair changed much faster than the other, like a lock that keeps getting rekeyed while the key stays the same.
Key Findings
The receptor (SRK) and ligand (SCR) proteins controlling self-incompatibility in Arabidopsis diversified at different rates, with one component evolving more rapidly than the other.
This asymmetrical co-evolution has implications for how new self-incompatibility specificities arise and spread through plant populations.
This article is a correction to previously published data; specific figures or analyses from the original paper have been amended.
chevron_right Technical Summary
This is a correction to a study examining how plants evolved a molecular system to avoid fertilizing themselves. The original research found that the 'lock and key' proteins controlling self-rejection in thale cress diversified in an uneven pattern, with one side of the pair evolving faster than the other.
Species Mentioned
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Arabidopsis thaliana, the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small plant from the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and Africa. Commonly found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land, it is generally considered a weed.