Abstract Detail

The Evolution of Pollen Performance

Williams, Joseph [1], Mazer, Susan J [2].

The Evolution of Pollen Performance.

Perhaps the most critical phase of reproduction in flowering plants occurs when sperm is being transferred to the egg by the pollen tube of the male gametophyte. Evolutionary biologists have long known that variation in pollen performance can have consequences for the evolution of both sporophyte and gametophyte generations, yet the significance of pollen competition in wild populations is still debated. A more comprehensive view of how pollen performance evolves is within reach, but the relevant results are emerging from widely disparate fields of research. The goal of this symposium is to update the community on the significance of pollen competition, bringing together new research that addresses functional (ecological and developmental) aspects of pollen tube growth. The topics of the symposium reflect a diversity of approaches to understanding pollen performance. The speakers come from mechanistic fields such as developmental genetics and biomechanics, as well as from theoretical biology, evolutionary ecology and evolution of development. All will be speaking on very recent work, or work that will be coming out within the next year. Several of the speakers do not routinely attend BSA meetings and three are coming from Canada or Europe. We expect the symposium to provoke an exchange of tools/methods/ideas across disciplines.

1 - University Of Tennessee, Department Of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 341 HESLER BUILDING, 1406 Circle Drive, KNOXVILLE, TN, 37996-1100, USA, 865/974-6202
2 - University Of California Santa Barbara, Department Of Ecology & Marine Biology, 4119 Life Sciences Building, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA, 805 7293980

Keywords:
Pollen competition
Pollen development
Evolutionary ecology
Gametophyte evolution
functional ecology.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY03
Location: Snake/Boise Centre
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2014
Time: 1:30 PM
Number: SY03SUM
Abstract ID:19
Candidate for Awards:None