PATTERNS OF MATING IN WILD SUNFLOWER HYBRID ZONES.

Theory predicts that homoploid hybrid speciation will be facilitated by selfing, yet most well-documented hybrid species are outcrossers. One possible explanation for this puzzle is that conditions in hybrid populations may favor selfing, even in otherwise outcrossing species. For example, in self-incompatible plants, mixtures of self and interspecific pollen often induce selfing. Here, we examine patterns of mating in three hybrid zones and four "pure" populations of Helianthus annuus and H. petiolaris, wild, self-incompatible sunflower species that are thought to have parented three homoploid hybrid species. Fourteen to 16 maternal families from each pure population and 44-46 maternal families from each hybrid zone were analyzed for seven polymorphic isozyme loci. Maximum-likelihood (ML) methods were used to estimate multilocus outcrossing rates (Tm ) and hybridization frequencies for each maternal family, each phenotypic group within each hybrid zone (annuus-like, hybrid, and petiolaris-like), and each population. As predicted for self-incompatible species, all four parental populations have outcrossing rate ML estimates of 1.0. Within the hybrid zones, outcrossing rates were lowest in the H. annuus-like fraction of the population (0.73, 0.72, and 0.74 in the three hybrid zones, respectively), largely intermediate in the H. petiolaris-like group (0.94, 0.90, and 0.94), and highest in the hybrid group (0.97, 0.93, and 0.97). Although outcrossing rates are lower in hybrid zones than in pure populations, it is unlikely that the observed decrease facilitates hybrid speciation because outcrossing rates in the critical hybrid fraction of the population do not differ significantly from 1.0. Dividing the outcrossed pollen pool into intraspecific and interspecific components revealed that maternal plants are largely fertilized by conspecific pollen, confirming an important role for pollen competition as a reproductive barrier. Highly sterile hybrid plants do not appear to discriminate between parental species pollen, but hybrids with higher fertility tend to be fertilized by pollen from the parental group they resemble genetically. Thus, gametic selection leads to substantial assortative mating in these hybrid zones. © 1998 The Society for the Study of Evolution.