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Related Concept Videos

Fertilization

Fertilization

During fertilization, an egg and sperm cell fuse to create a new diploid structure. In humans, the process occurs once the egg has been released from the ovary, and travels into the fallopian tubes. The process requires several key steps: 1) sperm present in the genital tract must locate the egg; 2) once there, sperm need to release enzymes to help them burrow through the protective zona pellucida of the egg; and 3) the membranes of a single sperm cell and egg must fuse, with the sperm...

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Gene flow is the transfer of genes among populations, resulting from either the dispersal of gametes or from the migration of individuals.

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The Angiosperm Life Cycle

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Asexual Reproduction

Asexual Reproduction

Asexual reproduction allows plants to reproduce without growing flowers, attracting pollinators, or dispersing seeds. Offspring are genetically identical to the parent and produced without the fusion of male and female gametes.

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Frequency-dependent Selection

When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.

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Updated: May 14, 2026

Measuring Embryonic Viability and Brood Size in Caenorhabditis elegans

Measuring Embryonic Viability and Brood Size in Caenorhabditis elegans

Published on: February 24, 2023

Is self-fertilization an evolutionary dead end?

Boris Igic¹, Jeremiah W Busch²

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 W. Taylor St, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA.

The New Phytologist

|February 21, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Self-fertilization may not be an evolutionary dead end, challenging long-held hypotheses. New research questions the unidirectional transition to selfing and its negative impact on diversification rates.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Plant reproductive strategies
Speciation and extinction dynamics

Background:

The hypothesis that self-fertilization (selfing) is an evolutionary dead end is widely accepted but debated.
This hypothesis conflates claims of unidirectional mating system transitions and negative diversification rates for selfing species.

Purpose of the Study:

To critically evaluate the evidence supporting the "evolutionary dead end" hypothesis for selfing.
To investigate the directionality of mating system transitions and diversification rates in plant evolution.

Main Methods:

Review and critique of statistical phylogenetic tests used to assess mating system transitions.
Examination of theoretical models, genetic data, and new phylogenetic methods.
Identification of limitations in current research on selfing lineage longevity.

Main Results:

Previous phylogenetic tests for mating system transitions are often flawed.
While indirect evidence links selfing to negative diversification, direct tests for reversals to outcrossing are lacking.
The stability of mixed mating systems is often overestimated.

Conclusions:

The "evolutionary dead end" hypothesis for selfing requires re-evaluation.
Further research is needed on the genetic basis of outcrossing adaptations and mechanisms limiting selfing lineage persistence.
New research programs are proposed to better understand mating system evolution.