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Bengt-Olle Bengtsson

Bengt Olle Bengtsson

Professor emeritus

Bengt-Olle Bengtsson

Transmission rates and phenotypic effects of mitochondrial plasmids and cytotypes in Silene vulgaris

Author

  • Helene Ceplitis
  • Bengt Olle Bengtsson

Summary, in English

We investigated the transmission properties and the phenotypic effects of two mitochondrial plasmids in a population of the bladder campion, Silene vulgaris. In reciprocal crosses between plasmid-free and plasmid-carrying plants, no cases of paternal transmission or loss during maternal transmission were recorded. Neither was any transmission via pollen observed when plasmid-carrying plants of S, vulgaris were used to pollinate plasmid-free plants of the closely related species Silene uniflora. The phenotypic effects of the plasmids were investigated by comparing germination rate, early growth properties, and the gender of plants grown from seeds with and without plasmids. A significant association between plasmid status, on the one hand, and germination propensity and offspring gender, on the other, was found. However, because all plants carrying plasmids in the experiment shared the same cytoplasmic background, the exact contribution of the plasmid to the phenotypic variation could not be determined. Taken together, our experiments show that in S. vulgaris the mt-plasmids are not currently involved in any strong genetic conflict, but that they evolve in close association with their mitochondrial host.

Department/s

  • Department of Biology
  • MEMEG
  • Evolutionary Genetics

Publishing year

2002

Language

English

Pages

1586-1591

Publication/Series

Evolution

Volume

56

Issue

8

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Topic

  • Evolutionary Biology

Keywords

  • mitochondrial plasmids
  • cytotypes
  • phenotypic effects
  • transmission rules
  • Silene vulgaris
  • sexual development
  • genetic conflicts

Status

Published

Research group

  • Evolutionary Genetics

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1558-5646