Analysis of Paternity within a Natural Population of Chamaelirium luteum. 1. Identification of Most-Likely Male Parents

Abstract

The most-likely male parents were identified by using genetic markers and evaluating the statistical likelihoods of paternity for seed collected from known female parents within a natural population of the forest herb Chamaelirium luteum. Likelihoods were determined for a total of 2255 seed, of which male parents were assigned for a subset of 575 seed. These 575 seed could thus be sorted into male sibships as well as female sibships. Within these partial sibships, males had a higher variance in the number of mates, showing a potential for sex-specific selection. Intermate (pollen-flow) distances were found to show more nearby matings than expected on the basis of random mating; however, the incidence of long-distance pollen flow was high compared to findings from studies on other insect-pollinated species. Finally, the variance in the distance to mates was greater among females than among males, again showing a potential for sex-specific selection. The unique discriminatory power provided by the identification of paternity thus affords new insights into the reproductive biology of natural populations.