PATHWAYS, MECHANISMS, AND RATES OF POLYPLOID FORMATION IN FLOWERING PLANTS

1998/11/01 by Justin Ramsey, Douglas W. Schemske · 1,946 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Adaptation (eye) #Biology #Chromosomal and Genetic Variations #Ecology #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Evolutionary biology #Gene #Genetic algorithm #Genetic diversity and population structure #Genetics #Genome #Interspecific competition #Mating #Mating system #Mutation rate #Outcrossing #Plant evolution #Ploidy #Polyploid #Population #Selfing #Taxon

paper · doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.29.1.467

published in Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 29(1), 467-501 (Annual Reviews)

openalex publication_date 1998/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

▪ Abstract Polyploidy is widely acknowledged as a major mechanism of adaptation and speciation in plants. The stages in polyploid evolution include frequent fertility bottlenecks and infrequent events such as gametic nonreduction and interspecific hybridization, yet little is known about how these and other factors influence overall rates of polyploid formation. Here we review the literature regarding polyploid origins, and quantify parameter values for each of the steps involved in the principal pathways. In contrast to the common claim that triploids are sterile, our results indicate that the triploid bridge pathway can contribute significantly to autopolyploid formation regardless of the mating system, and to allopolyploid formation in outcrossing taxa. We estimate that the total rate of autotetraploid formation is of the same order as the genic mutation rate (10 −5 ), and that a high frequency of interspecific hybridization (0.2% for selfing taxa, 2.7% for outcrossing taxa) is required for the rate of tetraploid formation via allopolyploidy to equal that by autopolyploidy. We conclude that the rate of autopolyploid formation may often be higher than the rate of allopolyploid formation. Further progress toward understanding polyploid origins requires studies in natural populations that quantify: (a) the frequency of unreduced gametes, (b) the effectiveness of triploid bridge pathways, and (c) the rates of interspecific hybridization.

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