From cross to self-pollination: Examining how plants develop different routes to replication

There are flowering plants that have the ability to self-pollinate, meaning that they can fertilize themselves without a partner. A biological advantage of self-pollination, also known as "selfing", is that one individual of these plants can single-handedly populate entire areas. However, selfing also has clear negative consequences for the plants—first and foremost the loss of genetic variability and biological fitness of the species. Thus, many flowering plants have mechanisms in place to prevent selfing, for example by recognizing and rejecting their own pollen. Biologists refer to this as self-incompatibility.