Selvbestøvende planter mister lynhurtigt genetisk variation, hvis de ikke bliver besøgt af bestøvere, for eksempel humlebier.
“Selvbestøvende”.
Det ligger ligesom i ordet, at her er en plante, der ikke har brug fra bestøvning fra f.eks. bier. Og dog.
Nu viser helt ny forskning fra Washington State University, at den hjemmehørende (på de kanter) og selvbestøvende, abeblomst, mister mellem 13 og 24% af sin genetiske variation på bare ni generationer, hvis blomsterne ikke får besøg af humlebier.
Sagt på en anden måde: Vi mister genetisk variation. Planterne bliver simpelthen mere ens, genetisk, hvis der ikke kommer en bestøver forbi og hjælper den “selvbestøvende” plante lidt på vej.
Genetisk variation er et værn mod indavl, som fører til degenerering, ligesom det betragtes som en garanti for, at arter overlever, selvom der opstår pludselige, voldsomme skift i deres levevilkår.
“If pollinators are lost, it’s not just going to be a problem for the pollinators: plant populations will lose genetic variation in tens of generations — not thousands, but tens,” said Jeremiah Busch, a Washington State University evolutionary biologist and lead author on the study.
LINK: https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2022/08/10/self-pollinating-plant-shows-rapid-loss-of-genetic-variation
“Adaptation is key to explaining these surprising declines. In selfing populations, a favored genotype will spread if it has an advantage, but so do all other mutations it carries, simply because they are lucky enough to reside in that plant’s genome. This phenomenon of “genetic hitch‑hiking” is much less pronounced when bees visit plants because offspring are a mix of their parents’ genetic variability”.
Det næste forskerne ønsker at undersøge, er, hvor lang tid en plante som f.eks. abeblomsten kan overleve, hvis dens gener bliver mere og mere ens.
“A really important next step is to see how fast highly inbred groups will have their viability decline over time — to know how quickly those populations will go extinct. We need to really understand what the consequences are from pollinator loss. It will matter for wild populations of plants and crops. A lot of crops depend on bees.”
Jeremiah Busch, evolutionary biologist at Washington State University.
STØT Plan Bi´s arbejde for Danmarks VILDE BIER:
