Mating system of buckwheat

Buckwheat (soba in Japanese) has a slightly unusual mating system called heterostylous self-incompatibility where two types of individuals coexist, one that produces flowers with a long style (female part of the flower) and short stamen (male part of the flower), and the other that produces flowers with a short style and long stamen. Mating is only successful when it occurs between the different types of individuals. It is a bit similar to sexual dimorphism where males and females coexists but in this case all individuals have both male and female organs. In this talk, I will introduce the basics of this mating system in buckwheat and some work we have been doing. In particular, I will talk about its genetic architecture and some parallels observed with other plants in which a similar mating system evolved independently.

The talk will be aimed at non-experts so non-biologists are also welcome to attend.