Pollination in the Marine Realm: Microsatellites Reveal High Outcrossing Rates and Multiple Paternity in Eelgrass Zostera Marina

The mating system was examined in two annual populations of eelgrass (Zostera marina), a marine angiosperm displaying subaqueous pollination. Multilocus genotyping using microsatellite DNA markers allowed the assessment of the pollen source based on single progeny as units of observation. Outcrossing was detectable by the presence of non-maternal alleles at one or more of the loci. In outcrossing cases, three microsatellite alleles were present in unripe seeds, consisting of both maternal alleles and the paternal allele composing the triploid primary endosperm. In ripe seeds, only the diploid embryonal genotype was amplifiable by PCR. Two intertidal populations situated in the German Wadden Sea were almost entirely outcrossing (t +/- SE 0.96 +/- 0.03, N=60 and 0.97 +/- 0.029, N=37). Because of the high polymorphism displayed by the eight chosen microsatellites, representing a total of 69 and 76 alleles, the likelihood of erroneously inferring selfing was small (alpha=0.0026 and 0.0007). In order to study the correlation of paternity, the coefficient of relatedness was determined within sibships. Relatedness (r +/- SE) was calculated as 0.357 +/- 0.059 and 0.343 +/- 0.037, indicating multiple paternities within inflorescences. Small amounts of tissue (< or = 0.1 mg) such as the developing seeds of recently fertilized ovules, were sufficient for PCR-amplification. Hence, PCR-based methods, such as multilocus microsatellite genotyping, allow the detection of pollen origin early in the development of progeny. They will be useful to distinguish postfertilization processes such as selective abortion and germination from other prefertilization determinants of plant mating systems.