Question

Due to the absence of cross-pollinated no sexual recombination and so no genetically distinct seeds produced. No distinct seeds means no increase in genetic diversity of the plant population. This also results in increased inbreeding de

Answer 1

Flowering plants have evolved various ge-
netic mechanisms to circumvent the tendency for self-
fertilization created by the close proximity of male and female
reproductive organs in a bisexual flower. One such mecha-
nism is gametophytic self-incompatibility, which allows the
female reproductive organ, the pistil, to distinguish between
self pollen and non-self pollen; self pollen is rejected, whereas
non-self pollen is accepted for fertilization. The Solanaceae
family has been used as a model to study the molecular and
biochemical basis of self/non-self-recognition and self-
rejection. Discrimination of self and non-self pollen by the
pistil is controlled by a single polymorphic locus, the S locus.
The protein products of S alleles in the pistil, S proteins, were
initially identified based on their cosegregation with S alleles.
S proteins have recently been shown to indeed control the
ability of the pistil to recognize and reject self pollen. S
proteins are also RNases, and the RNase activity has been
shown to be essential for rejection of self pollen, suggesting
that the biochemical mechanism of self-rejection