Inbreeding Depression in Plant Populations
Summary
Inbreeding depression refers to the reduction in fitness and vigour that occurs when closely related individuals mate, leading to increased homozygosity and the unmasking of deleterious recessive alleles. In plant populations, this phenomenon has profound implications for evolutionary trajectories, mating‐system evolution and conservation strategies. Self‐fertilisation and mating among relatives are widespread in flowering plants, yet these processes carry the risk of exposing genetic load and compromising seed set, germination, growth, reproduction and stress tolerance. The balance between selfing and outcrossing shapes population genetic structure, influences the capacity for adaptation and determines the success of restoration and breeding programmes. Empirical studies in both crop and wild species have shown that inbreeding depression can be variable in magnitude—sometimes rapidly purged under sustained selfing, other times persistent despite mixed‐mating histories. Environmental stresses such as drought or herbivory may exacerbate inbreeding effects, further threatening small or fragmented populations. Conversely, management actions that promote gene flow, maintain heterozygosity and harness natural purging processes can mitigate risks. Understanding the genetic, epigenetic and ecological factors that govern inbreeding depression is therefore critical for safeguarding biodiversity, optimising crop performance and predicting the resilience of plant populations in a changing world.
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Inbreeding Depression in Plant Populations publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in inbreeding depression in plant populations across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Inbreeding Depression: The decline in biological fitness and vigour resulting from mating between genetically related individuals.
Heterozygosity: The presence of different alleles at a genetic locus, contributing to genetic diversity.
Purging: The process by which inbreeding removes deleterious recessive mutations from a population.
Selfing (Self-fertilisation): Reproductive mode in which a plant fertilises its own ovules with its own pollen.
Outcrossing: Reproductive mode in which pollen from one individual fertilises ovules of a genetically distinct individual.
References
- Epigenetic Changes Occurring in Plant Inbreeding. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
- The evolutionary ecology of inbreeding depression in wild plant populations and its impact on plant mating systems. Frontiers in Plant Science (2024).
- Gametic selection favours polyandry and selfing. PLOS Genetics (2024).
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