Local adaptation in European populations of Arabidopsis lyrata (Brassicaceae)

Abstract

We studied local adaptation to contrasting environments using an organism that is emerging as a model for evolutionary plant biology-the outcrossing, perennial herb Arabidopsis lyrata subsp. petraea (Brassicaceae). With reciprocal transplant experiments, we found variation in cumulative fitness, indicating adaptive differentiation among populations. Nonlocal populations did not have significantly higher fitness than the local population. Experimental sites were located in Norway (alpine), Sweden (coastal), and Germany (continental). At all sites after one year, the local population had higher cumulative fitness, as quantified by survival combined with rosette area, than at least one of the nonlocal populations. At the Norwegian site, measurements were done for two additional years, and fitness differences persisted. The fitness components that contributed most to differences in cumulative fitness varied among sites. Relatively small rosette area combined with a large number of inflorescences produced by German plants may reflect differentiation in life history. The results of the current study demonstrate adaptive population differentiation in A. lyrata along a climatic gradient in Europe. The studied populations harbor considerable variation in several characters contributing to adaptive population differentiation. The wealth of genetic information available makes A. lyrata a highly attractive system also for examining the functional and genetic basis of local adaptation in plants.

Complex Genetic Effects on Early Vegetative Development Shape Resource Allocation Differences BetweenArabidopsis lyrataPopulations

“…We found evidence for local fitness advantage in European populations (Leinonen et al 2009) and in populations from contrasting Norway and North Carolina (NC) environments (Leinonen et al 2011). In both studies, differences between environments in the contribution of different fitness components (flowering propensity, inflorescence and fruit production, and survival) to overall fitness variation were responsible for local adaptation.…”

“…A. lyrata has a wide but highly fragmented distribution across Europe, Asia, and North America, and occurs in environments that range from subarctic and alpine to warm temperate in climate. A. lyrata also exhibits strong patterns of phenotypic variation between populations in flowering time (Riihimäki and Savolainen 2004;Riihimäki et al 2005) and fitness components (Kuittinen et al 2008;Leinonen et al 2009Leinonen et al , 2011. The complete genome sequence of A. lyrata has now been published (Hu et al 2011) and genetic and chromosomal synteny maps have been developed (Kuittinen et al 2004;Schranz et al 2006), greatly facilitating application of the extensive genomic resources and functional information available in A. thaliana to A. lyrata.…”

Population structure and historical biogeography of European Arabidopsis lyrata

“…So far a large proportion of adaptation and diversity studies have used 'standard' sampling locations (for example Esja Mountain, Karhumaki, Mjällom, Plech, Reykjavik). A growing number of studies have used collections from both central and northern European territories (Kuittinen et al, 2007;Leinonen et al, 2009), which we show here to be genetically structured. Future adaptation studies should ideally continue this wider sampling approach when testing for local adaptation.…”

“…Arabidopsis lyrata is an outcrossing perennial that shows extensive phenotypic variation and grows in natural habitats that span a large ecological range (Jonsell et al, 1995;Kivimäki et al, 2007;Leinonen et al, 2009;Sandring and Å gren, 2009). Already several local adaptation/ selection studies have been published (Kivimäki et al, 2007;Kuittinen et al, 2007;Leinonen et al, 2009), with special emphasis on studying self-incompatibility evolution Schierup et al, 2006;Mable and Adam, 2007). More of such studies are likely to emerge with the recent availability of the genomic sequence, which makes a comprehensive study of A. lyrata's phylogeographic structure timely.…”

The Importance of the Plant Circadian Clock to Confer Heat Tolerance

“…The species have adapted to persevere over a range of ~50°C, including extremes of growth near 0°C at the coastlines of Antarctica and at near 50°C in the deserts of the hottest places on Earth (McClung and Davis, 2010). To prevail in such diverse thermal environments, the plant populations in contrasting thermal environments may have accumulated relevant genetic modifications/natural variations as a result of differential selective pressures (Leinonen et al, 2009).…”