Effects of cold treatments on fitness and mode of reproduction in the diploid and polyploid alpine plant Ranunculus kuepferi (Ranunculaceae)

Abstract

Cold stress is correlated to expression of apomixis in warm-adapted, diploid R. kuepferi, while temperature-tolerant tetraploids just maintain facultative apomixis as a possible adaptation to colder climates. However, expression of apomixis may not depend on polyploidy, but rather on failure of the sexual pathway.