Sponsor
This research was supported by an NIH NIGMS BUILD EXITO grant (5TL4GM118965-03, 5UL1GM118964-03, and 5RL5GM118963-03) to Portland State University, and by NSF-DEB awards 2051235 to MBC and 2051242 to MAS.
Published In
Evolutionary Ecology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-4-2022
Subjects
Plant breeding, Plants -- Genetic markers, Plants -- Evolution, Plant ecology
Abstract
The unique life form of plants promotes the accumulation of somatic mutations that can be passed to offspring in the next generation, because the same meristem cells responsible for vegetative growth also generate gametes for sexual reproduction. However, little is known about the consequences of somatic mutation accumulation for offspring fitness. We evaluate the fitness effects of somatic mutations in Mimulus guttatus by comparing progeny from self-pollinations made within the same flower (autogamy) to progeny from self-pollinations made between stems on the same plant (geitonogamy). The effects of somatic mutations are evident from this comparison, as autogamy leads to homozygosity of a proportion of somatic mutations, but progeny from geitonogamy remain heterozygous for mutations unique to each stem. In two different experiments, we find consistent fitness effects of somatic mutations from individual stems. Surprisingly, several progeny groups from autogamous crosses displayed increases in fitness compared to progeny from geitonogamy crosses, likely indicating that beneficial somatic mutations occurred in some stems. These results support the hypothesis that somatic mutations accumulate during vegetative growth, but they are filtered by different forms of selection that occur throughout development, resulting in the culling of expressed deleterious mutations and the retention of beneficial mutations.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2022 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1007/s10682-022-10188-3
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/37938
Citation Details
Cruzan, M. B., Streisfeld, M. A., & Schwoch, J. A. (2022). Fitness effects of somatic mutations accumulating during vegetative growth. Evolutionary Ecology, 1-19.