A model for the evolution of high frequencies of males in an androdioecious plant based on a cross-compatibility advantage of males.

Lloyd's (1975) and Charlesworth & Charlesworth's (1978) phenotypic selection models for the maintenance of androdioecy predict that males (female-sterile individuals) must have an advantage in fertility (K) of at least two in order to invade a hermaphroditic population, and that their equilibrium frequency (x(eq)=(K - 2)/2(K - 1)) is always less than 0.5. In this paper, we develop a model in which male fertility is frequency-dependent, a situation not investigated in the previous models, to explore the conditions under which a high frequency of males (i.e. more than 50%) could be maintained at equilibrium. We demonstrate that a gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) locus linked to a nuclear sex determination locus can favour rare alleles through male function, by causing frequency-dependent selection. Thus, the spread of a female-sterility allele in a hermaphroditic population may be induced. In contrast with the previous models, our model can explain male frequencies greater than 50% in a functionally androdioecious species, as long as there is (i) dominance of female-sterility at the sex locus, and (ii) a few alleles at the self-incompatibility locus, even if the advantage in fertility of male phenotype is lower than two.

Self-Incompatibility and Male Fertilization Success in Phillyrea angustifolia (Oleaceae).

Androdioecy is a rare breeding system in which low male frequency is expected in populations because males require a strong increase in their fertility to be maintained by selection. Phillyrea angustifolia L. has previously been reported as possibly functionally androdioecious. However, 1&rcolon;1 sex ratios have been reported and suggest functional dioecy. In this article, we compared both pollen tube growth and siring success of male and hermaphrodite pollen in two single-donor pollination experiments. We verified at both pre- and postzygotic levels that hermaphrodites produce functional pollen. Self-incompatibility was also clearly established. However, pollen from hermaphrodites was less efficient than male pollen. The probability of a pollen tube growing through the style was higher for male than for hermaphrodite pollen donors, and males sired twice as many fruits as hermaphrodites. The twofold male advantage in relative fecundity was mainly because of lower pollen fertility of hermaphrodites and possible cross-incompatibility among hermaphrodites.

Maintenance-based strategies for environmental risk minimization in the process industries.

Industry, environmental agencies and the scientific community have all emphasized the need to include environmental impact considerations next to profitability objectives in the design phase of modern chemical processes, responding to the increasing social concern over environmental degradation in the past years. Most environmental impact assessment and minimization approaches, however, are rather qualitative, providing general guidelines. In this work, to overcome their limitations and rigorously represent the defining elements of environmental risk, i.e. the mechanism of occurrence of unexpected events usually related to equipment failure and the severity of their consequences, detailed process, reliability and maintenance characteristics are incorporated within a process optimization framework. The objective concerns the optimization of overall process performance defined as a system effectiveness vector characterized by both the environmental and the profitability functions of the system. Implementation of the framework on a process example identifies the optimal combination of process design and operation as well as preventive maintenance strategies that accomplish the conflicting environmental and profitability targets and quantifies the existing trade-offs between them.