Mixed mating system and variable mating patterns in tropical woody bamboos

• DOI: 10.1186/s12870-019-2024-3
• Publication Date: 2019-10-11T07:11:42Z
• Authors: Ning Xie; Ling-Na Chen; Yu-Ran Dong; Han-Qi Yang
• Keywords: Genetic Markers; 0301 basic medicine; Reproduction; Botany; 15. Life on land; Poaceae; Paternity analysis; 03 medical and health sciences; Species Specificity; QK1-989; Pollen dispersal; Mating system; Woody bamboo; Dendrocalamus; Pollination; Research Article; Microsatellite Repeats

AbstractBackgroundSo far, little is known in detail about mating systems of woody bamboos. Paternity analysis of offspring improved our understanding of these systems, and contributed to their germplasm conservation and genetic improvement.ResultsIn this study, a paternity analysis of offspring from two consecutive mass or sporadically flowering events ofDendrocalamus membranaceusandD. sinicuswere conducted to determine their mating system and pollen dispersal using the program COLONY based on simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Two sporadically flowering populations ofD. sinicus(C1, C2) obtained relatively high paternity assignments rates (69.0–71.4%). Meanwhile, among three populations ofD. membranaceus, the sporadically flowering population A also had much higher paternity assignments rates (56.4%) than mass flowering populations B1(28.6%) and B2 (42.5%). BothD. membranaceusandD. sinicushad mixed mating systems while their mating patterns were variable depending on pollination conditions. The maximum pollen dispersal distances were 90 m and 4378 m forD. membranaceusandD. sinicuspopulations, respectively, and the mating distances of these two species focused on ranges of ca. 0–50 m and 0–1500 m, respectively.ConclusionsThese results revealed for the first time variable mating patterns in woody bamboos. This suggests half-sib seeds from the same bamboo clump may have different male parents and it is crucial to clarify genetic origin in woody bamboos’ breeding programs. The results also indicate the importance of pollinators in the mating systems of tropical woody bamboos.