Prevalence of monogamy at the level of flowers in plants
Plants with multiseeded fruits can experience genomic conflicts among siblings, between parents, and between maternal and paternal genomes. This study tested whether such conflicts are reduced when all seeds in a fruit share the same pollen parent. A meta‑analysis of 63 species across diverse angiosperm families revealed that nearly 50% of multiseeded species exhibit single‑pollen paternity, challenging the long‑held assumption that multiple paternity is the norm. These findings highlight the evolutionary roles of kin selection and sibling rivalry in shaping seed relatedness and suggest that floral‑level monogamy may be more common in plants than previously recognized, paralleling patterns observed in animals.
Subject Tags
- Life Sciences
Abstract
Different types of genomic conflicts are possible in plants with multiovulate ovaries that produce multiseeded fruits: between the maternal plant and its offspring, among developing seeds, between paternal and maternal genomes over seed development, and among paternal parents if different parents sire seeds within an ovary. We tested the hypothesis that such conflicts in multiseeded fruits can be reduced if seeds are sired by a single pollen parent. We conducted a meta-analysis of paternity in 63 species across diverse plant families to assess paternity within fruits. Our results reveal that almost 50% of flowering plant species with multiseeded fruits have a single pollen parent. Our results question the prevailing notion that multiple paternity of seeds within fruits is widespread, especially when, in addition to single paternity in multiseeded fruits, a large number of species have single-seeded fruits. We provide insights into the role of sibling rivalry and kin selection in driving genetic relatedness of seeds within fruits. Equally important, the observation of monogamy at the level of flowers is in line with the mating patterns observed in animals.
Citation
Bawa, K. S., Tiwari, N., & Shivaprakash, K. N. (2025). Prevalence of monogamy at the level of flowers in plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(32), e2506724122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2506724122
TNC Authors
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K. Nagaraju Shivaprakash
The Nature Conservancy