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Self-incompatibility systems in different angiosperm families are reviewed, and the evidence that incompatibility has arisen several times is outlined. New data on the sequence polymorphism of self-incompatibility loci from two different angiosperm families are compared with results from other highly polymorphic loci, particularly MHC loci. We discuss what molecular genetic analyses of these sequences can tell us about the nature and maintenance of the polymorphism at self-incompatibility loci. We suggest that there is evidence for recombination at the Brassica self-incompatibility loci, so that it may be possible to discern regions that are particularly functionally important in the recognition reaction, even though the long-term maintenance of polymorphisms in these amino acid residues has caused the evolution of many other sequence differences between alleles.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/sj.hdy.6884000

Type

Journal article

Journal

Heredity

Publication Date

07/1998

Volume

81 ( Pt 1)

Pages

1 - 9

Addresses

ICAPB, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratory, UK. deborah.charlesworth@ed.ac.uk

Keywords

Plants, Brassica, Pollen, Genetics, Population, Linkage Disequilibrium, Polymorphism, Genetic, Alleles, Genetic Variation, Selection, Genetic, Biological Evolution