250521-Suetsugu-Nonblooming-Illustration (IMAGE)
Caption
A Kobe University research team found that two species of self-pollinating orchids with unopened flowers each arose from insect-pollinated species that already have a very low degree of genetic variation in this geographic region. The variation is so low, in fact, that even though pollen might get transported from one plant to the next, it’s nearly identical to self-pollination. Lead author SUETSUGU Kenji explains, “Our findings show that for the orchid species with open flowers, the real genetic payoff for outcrossing might be marginal, giving the self-pollinating orchids, which are more successful at producing fruit, an evolutionary edge.”
Credit
ANSAI Shun, SUETSUGU Kenji, KANEKO Shingo
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License
CC BY