Variation and plasticity in life-history traits and fitness of wild Arabidopsis thaliana populations are not related to their genotypic and ecological diversity
Raul de la Mata, Almudena Mollá-Morales, Belén Méndez-Vigo, Rafael Torres-Pérez, Juan Carlos Oliveros, Rocío Gómez, Arnald Marcer, Antonio R. Castilla, Magnus Nordborg, Carlos Alonso-Blanco, F. Xavier Picó
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Despite its implications for population dynamics and evolution, the relationship between genetic and phenotypic variation in wild populations remains unclear. Here, we estimated variation and plasticity in life-history traits and fitness of the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana in two common garden experiments that differed in environmental conditions. We used up to 306 maternal inbred lines from six Iberian populations characterized by low and high genotypic (based on whole-genome sequences) and ecological (vegetation type) diversity. Low and high genotypic and ecological diversity was found in edge and core Iberian environments, respectively. Given that selection is expected to be stronger in edge environments and that ecological diversity may enhance both phenotypic variation and plasticity, we expected genotypic diversity to be positively associated with phenotypic variation and plasticity. However, maternal lines, irrespective of the genotypic and ecological diversity of their population of origin, exhibited a substantial amount of phenotypic variation and plasticity for all traits. Furthermore, all populations harbored maternal lines with canalization (robustness) or sensitivity in response to harsher environmental conditions in one of the two experiments. Overall, we conclude that the environmental attributes of each population probably determine their genotypic diversity, but all populations maintain substantial phenotypic variation and plasticity for all traits, which represents an asset to endure in changing environments.
期刊介绍:
BMC Evolutionary Biology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of molecular and non-molecular evolution of all organisms, as well as phylogenetics and palaeontology.