Darwin's 'mystery of mysteries': the role of sexual selection in plant speciation

0581827 - BÚ 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Haghighatnia, Mohammadjavad - Machač, Antonín - Schmickl, Roswitha - Lafon Placette, C.
Darwin's 'mystery of mysteries': the role of sexual selection in plant speciation.
Biological Reviews. Roč. 98, č. 6 (2023), s. 1928-1944. ISSN 1464-7931. E-ISSN 1469-185X
Institutional support: RVO:67985939 ; RVO:61388971
Keywords : sexual selection * plant speciation * reproductive isolation
OECD category: Plant sciences, botany; Microbiology (MBU-M)
Impact factor: 10, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12991

Sexual selection is considered one of the key processes that contribute to the emergence of new species. While the connection between sexual selection and speciation has been supported by comparative studies, the mechanisms that mediate this connection remain unresolved, especially in plants. Similarly, it is not clear how speciation processes within plant populations translate into large-scale speciation dynamics. Here, we review the mechanisms through which sexual selection, pollination, and mate choice unfold and interact, and how they may ultimately produce reproductive isolation in plants. We also overview reproductive strategies that might influence sexual selection in plants and illustrate how functional traits might connect speciation at the population level (population differentiation, evolution of reproductive barriers, i.e. microevolution) with evolution above the species level (macroevolution). We also identify outstanding questions in the field, and suitable data and tools for their resolution. Altogether, this effort motivates further research focused on plants, which might potentially broaden our general understanding of speciation by sexual selection, a major concept in evolutionary biology.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0349979