A REVIEW ON RECENT ADVANCES IN THE STUDIES OF PLANT BREEDING SYSTEM
植物繁育系统研究的最新进展和评述

The plant breeding system has become the most active and promising area among the recent evolutionary studies. In its definition, the plant breedin g system represents the sum of all sexual characteristics that could possibly in fluenc e the genetic composition of subsequent generations, mainly encompassing floral morphological features, display patterns, longevity, species and visitation r ates of pollinators, degree of self_compatibility and mating system. Among them the mating system is the most critical. In this paper we presented a review of t he recent advances in the studies of plant breeding systems, with an emphasis on 1) the diversity of pollination in floral morphology, sexual expression, floral longevity and pollinator, 2) testing the evolution of the sexual characters an d ecological shifts of the breeding system, such as sex expression, selfing and outcrossing in historical context by an independent phylogenetic approach, 3) e ffects of inbreeding depression on the plant reproduction cycle and their possib le mechanisms, and 4) spatial and dynamic patterns of the mixed mating system a nd their maintenance mechanisms and evolutionary trends. We further summarized t he application of plant breeding system research in the studies of flower adapta tion, speciation and conservation of endangered species. Lastly, for future research, we s uggested that 1) the word "adaptation" should be less used in flower adaptati on explanations and more valuations should be based on the results of manipu lated experiments and 2) both molecular and ecological methods should be combin ed to elucidate the plant breeding system at the scale of the community and high taxonomic levels, to compare the evolution and differentiation of the genes wh ich drive flower diversity and control differentiation of the inbreeding and outcrossing, and to find the determinative factors among the interactive relatio nships in the breeding system.