PURGING OF INBREEDING DEPRESSION WITHIN A POPULATION OF OXALIS ALPINA (OXALIDACEAE)

Premise of the study: Variation among individuals in levels of inbreeding depression associated with selfing levels could influence mating system evolution by purging deleterious alleles, but empirical evidence for this association is limited. Methods: We investigated the association of family-level inbreeding depression and presumed inbreeding history in a tristylous population of Oxalis alpina (Oxalidaceae). Key results: Mid-styled individuals possessed the greatest degree of self-compatibility (SC) and produced more autogamous capsules than short-or long-styled individuals. Offspring of highly self-compatible mid-styled individuals showed reduced inbreeding depression. Mid-styled plants that produced capsules autogamously exhibited reduced stigma-anther separation compared to mid-styled plants that produced no capsules autogamously. Reduced inbreeding depression was not correlated with stigma-anther separation, suggesting that self-compatibility and autogamy evolve before morphological changes in stigma-anther separation. Conclusions: Purging of inbreeding depression occurred in SC mid-styled maternal families. Low inbreeding depression in SC mid-styled plants may lead to retention of the mid-styled morph in populations, despite the occurrence of higher selfing rates in mid-styled relative to short-or long-styled morphs. Variation among individuals in levels of self-fertilization within populations may lead to associations between inbreeding lineages and lower levels of inbreeding depression, influencing the evolution of mating systems.