Abstract
This review summarises current understanding of the evolution of self-incompatibility inferred from DNA sequence analysis. Self-incompatibility in many plant families is controlled by a single, highly polymorphicS-locus which, in the Solanaceae, encodes an allelic series of stylar ribonucleases known as the S-RNases. PCR approaches are a convenient way to examine the diversity of S-RNase sequences within and between wild populations of a self-incompatible species and provide a unique view into the species' current and historic population structure. Similar molecular appoaches have also been used to show that S-RNases are involved in self-incompatibility in families other than the Solanaceae. A model for the evolution of ribonuclease-based self-incompatibility systems is discussed.
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Newbigin, E. The evolution of self-incompatibility: a molecular voyeur's perspective. Sexual Plant Reprod 9, 357–361 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02441956
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02441956