Self-pollination

Self-pollination occurs when pollen fertilizes ovules in the same flower or plant. It can occur within one flower or between flowers on the same plant.

Autogamy: Pollination in which pollen fertilizes an ovule within the same flower. This is self-pollination in its within-flower form.
Inbreeding depression: Reduced survival or reproduction in offspring resulting from mating between relatives. Repeated selfing can expose harmful recessive variants and lower offspring fitness.
Plant breeding: The deliberate development of plants with desired inherited traits. Breeders use self-pollination to fix selected traits across generations.
Arabidopsis thaliana: A small flowering plant widely used as a model organism in biology. Its predominantly selfing reproduction makes controlled genetic studies practical.
Geitonogamy: Pollination between different flowers on the same plant. It transfers pollen between flowers without introducing pollen from another plant.
Heterozygosity: The presence of different alleles at a genetic locus in an individual. Selfing tends to reduce heterozygosity across generations.
Inbred line: A genetically uniform line produced through repeated mating among close relatives or self-fertilization. Repeated selfing can create stable parental lines for breeding.
Pea: A legume crop whose flowers commonly self-pollinate. Selfing helped make pea traits predictable in Gregor Mendel's inheritance experiments.
Cleistogamy: Reproduction through flowers that remain closed and self-pollinate. Closed flowers ensure pollen stays within the flower.
Reproductive assurance: The capacity to reproduce when mates or pollinators are scarce or absent. Self-pollination can produce seeds when cross-pollination fails.

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