The selfing syndrome overshadows other differences when comparing fitness across Capsella species

Abstract

Self-fertilization has recurrently evolved from outcrossing. Self-fertilization provides an advantage in the short-term as individuals do not require a mate to reproduce, but self-fertilization is also associated with both decreased genetic diversity and accumulation of weakly deleterious mutations, which could, however, be alleviated in polyploid selfers. If pollinators are not limited, individual fitness is thus expected to be higher in outcrossers than in selfers. We measured several life history traits in four Capsella species under two different treatments (disturbed and undisturbed) to assess the effects of mating system and ploidy level on reproductive, vegetative and phenological traits. The experiment was carried out outdoor in Northwest Greece, within the range of the obligate outcrossing species, C. grandiflora, so it could be naturally pollinated and its fitness directly compared to that of its self-fertilizing relatives. Disturbance of the environment did not affect the phenotype in any of the four species. However, for most traits the obligate outcrossing species performed better than all selfing ones. In contrast, polyploidy did not seem to confer an advantage in terms of survival or reproduction compared to diploidy. Finally, plants from Asia and northern Europe had lower performances than accessions from southern Europe and the Middle-East.