Are there morphological and life‐history traits under climate‐dependent differential selection in S TunesianDiplotaxis harra(Forssk.) Boiss. (Brassicaceae) populations?
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Adaptation of morphological, physiological, or life‐history traits of a plant species to heterogeneous habitats through the process of natural selection is a paramount process in evolutionary biology. We have used a population genomic approach to disentangle selection‐based and demography‐based variation in morphological and life‐history traits in the cruciferDiplotaxis harra(Forssk.) Boiss. (Brassicaceae) encountered in populations along aridity gradients in S Tunisia. We have genotyped 182 individuals from 12 populations of the species ranging from coastal to semidesert habitats using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting and assessed a range of morphological and life‐history traits from their progeny cultivated under common‐garden conditions. Application of three different statistical approaches for searchingAFLPloci under selection allowed us to characterize candidate loci, for which their association with the traits assessed was tested for statistical significance and correlation with climate data. As a key result of this study, we find that only the shape of cauline leaves seems to be under differential selection along the aridity gradient in S Tunisian populations ofDiplotaxis harra,while for all other traits studied neutral biogeographical and/or random factors could not be excluded as explanation for the variation observed. The counter‐intuitive finding that plants from populations with more arid habitats produce broader leaves under optimal conditions of cultivation than those from more mesic habitats is interpreted as being ascribable to selection for a higher plasticity in this trait under more unpredictable semidesert conditions compared to the more predictable ones in coastal habitats.
Source: Ecology and Evolution
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3705
Institution: University of Regensburg
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,962
OpenAlex ID: W2771403769