# Cleistogamy

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{{Short description|Self-pollination of non-opening flowers}}

300px|thumb|Chasmogamous (a) and cleistogamous (b) flowers of ''Viola pubescens''. Arrows point to structure.

'''Cleistogamy''' is a type of automatic self-pollination of certain plants that can propagate by using non-opening, [self-pollinating](/source/self-pollination) flowers. Especially well known in [peanut](/source/peanut)s, [pea](/source/pea)s, and [pansies](/source/Pansy), this behavior is most widespread in the grass family. However, the largest genus of cleistogamous plants is ''[Viola](/source/Viola_(plant))''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sternberger |first1=Anne L. |last2=Ruhil |first2=Anirudh V. S. |last3=Rosenthal |first3=David M. |last4=Ballard |first4=Harvey E. |last5=Wyatt |first5=Sarah E. |date=2020-03-11 |title=Environmental impact on the temporal production of chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers in the mixed breeding system of Viola pubescens |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=15 |issue=3 |article-number=e0229726 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0229726 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=7065761 |pmid=32160228|bibcode=2020PLoSO..1529726S |doi-access=free }}</ref>  Cleistogamy is promoted in the [tomato](/source/tomato) plant by a modification of floral structures.<ref name = Wu2024>{{cite journal |vauthors=Wu M, Bian X, Huang B, Du Y, Hu S, Wang Y, Shen J, Wu S |title=HD-Zip proteins modify floral structures for self-pollination in tomato |journal=Science |volume=384 |issue=6691 |pages=124–130 |date=April 2024 |pmid=38574141 |doi=10.1126/science.adl1982 |bibcode=2024Sci...384..124W |url=}}</ref>  This modification includes formation of a [stigma](/source/stigma_(botany)) enclosing floral structure.<ref name = Wu2024/>

The more common opposite of cleistogamy, or "closed marriage", is called [chasmogamy](/source/chasmogamy), or "open marriage". Virtually all plants that produce cleistogamous flowers also produce chasmogamous ones.<ref name=Meeuse>Meeuse, Bastiaan and Sean Morris. 1984. The sex life of flowers. New York, NY: Facts on File Publishers. pp 110-111.</ref>  The principal advantage of cleistogamy is that it requires fewer plant resources to produce seeds than does chasmogamy, because development of petals, nectar and large amounts of pollen is not required. This efficiency makes cleistogamy particularly useful for seed production on unfavorable sites or adverse conditions.  ''[Impatiens capensis](/source/Impatiens_capensis),'' for example, has been observed to produce only cleistogamous flowers after being severely damaged by grazing and to maintain populations on unfavorable sites with only cleistogamous flowers.  The obvious disadvantage of cleistogamy is that [self-fertilization](/source/Flower) occurs, which may suppress the creation of genetically more fit plants.<ref name=Meeuse/>  Another disadvantage of self-fertilization is that it leads to the expression in progeny of deleterious recessive [mutation](/source/mutation)s.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=3898363 |date=1985 |last1=Bernstein |first1=H. |last2=Byerly |first2=H. C. |last3=Hopf |first3=F. A. |last4=Michod |first4=R. E. |title=Genetic damage, mutation, and the evolution of sex |journal=Science |volume=229 |issue=4719 |pages=1277–1281 |doi=10.1126/science.3898363 |bibcode=1985Sci...229.1277B }}</ref>

For [genetically modified](/source/Genetically_modified_organism) (GM) [rapeseed](/source/rapeseed), researchers hoping to minimise the admixture of GM and non-GM crops are attempting to use cleistogamy to prevent [gene flow](/source/gene_flow). However, preliminary results from [Co-Extra](/source/Co-Extra), a project within the seventh [EU research program](/source/Framework_Programmes_for_Research_and_Technological_Development) in 2011, show that although cleistogamy reduces gene flow, it is not at the moment a consistently reliable tool for [biocontainment](/source/Biological_containment); due to a certain instability of the cleistogamous trait, some flowers may open and release genetically modified pollen.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-20 |title=Co-Extra Projects: Biological methods for mitigating gene flow in rapeseed |url=http://www.coextra.eu/projects/project191.html |access-date=2022-07-26 |archive-date=2011-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720155033/http://www.coextra.eu/projects/project191.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

==See also==
* [Co-existence of genetically modified, conventional, and organic crops](/source/Co-existence_of_genetically_modified_and_conventional_crops_and_derived_food_and_feed)

==References==
{{reflist}}

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Category:Plant reproduction
Category:Pollination
Category:Plant sexuality

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cleistogamy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleistogamy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleistogamy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.