Quantitative estimates of outcrossing rates in a natural population of Caldesia grandis (Alismataceae)

Outcrossing rate in a natural population of Caldesia grandis was estimated by the dominant random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) marker using 10 open-pollinated progeny arrays of 24 individuals. The multilocus outcrossing rate estimated based on all 25 RAPD loci was 0.872 ± 0.033 and the single-locus outcrossing rate was 0.795 ± 0.032. Multilocus estimates did not differ significantly from the single-locus estimates. The fixation index, F, in the progeny estimated from RAPD data was -0.142 ±0.000. The estimates of multilocus outcrossing rates (t ) and single-locus outcrossing rates (t ) obtained from MLDT clearly indicate that outcrossing is predominant in the open-pollinated C. grandis population. An empirical analysis suggests that 15 should be the minimum number of dominant marker loci necessary to achieve robust estimates of t . © 2007 Wuhan University Journals Press.