1• Are organisms free to reach their adaptive optima or constrained by hard-2 wired developmental programs? Recent evidence suggests that the arrangement 3 of stomata on abaxial (lower) and adaxial (upper) leaf surfaces may be an 4 important adaptation in plants, but stomatal traits on each surface likely share 5 developmental pathways that could hamper evolution. 6 • We reviewed the quantitative genetics of stomatal density to look for loci that 7 (1) affected ab-or adaxial density independently or (2) pleiotropically affected 8 stomatal density on both surfaces. We also used phylogenetic comparative 9 methods to test for independent versus correlated evolution of stomatal traits 10 (density, size, and pore index) on each surface from 14 amphistomatous wild 11 tomato taxa (Solanum; Solanaceae).
12• Naturally occurring and laboratory-induced genetic variation alters stomatal 13 density on one surface without affecting the other, indicating that develop-14 ment does not strongly constrain the spectrum of available mutations. Among 15 wild tomato taxa, traits most closely related to function (stomatal pore index 16 and density) evolved independently on each surface, whereas stomatal size was 17 constrained by correlated evolution.
18• Genetics and phylogenetics demonstrate mostly independent evolution of stom-19 atal function on each leaf surface, facilitating largely unfettered access to fitness 20 optima. 21 2 Keywords 22 Adaptation, correlated evolution, developmental constraint, phylogenetic compara-23 tive methods, quantitative genetics, Solanum, stomata, stomatal ratio 24 Introduction 25 Are traits able to evolve independently of one another or they constrained by de-26 velopment, genetic, or functional connections? Here, we examine whether stomata 27 on the abaxial ('lower') surface of the leaf evolve independently of adaxial ('upper') 28 stomata. Stomata are microscopic pores on the leaf surface formed by a pair of guard 29cells. The density, size, and arrangement of stomata on a leaf set the maximum stom-30 atal conductance to CO 2 diffusing into a leaf and the amount of water that transpires 31 from it (Parkhurst, 1978; Sack et al., 2003; Franks and Farquhar, 2001; Galmés et al., 32 1975). Hence, stomatal traits like density, size, and ratio of upper to lower stomata 33 have strong effects on carbon assimilation and water-use efficiency.
34An unresolved question is whether stomatal size and density on each leaf surface 35 can evolve independently or are tethered together by shared development. Stomata 36 are most often found only on the lower leaf surface (hypostomy), but occur on both 37 surfaces (amphistomy) in some species (Metcalfe and Chalk, 1950; Parkhurst, 1978; 38 Mott et al., 1984), especially herbs (Salisbury, 1927; Muir, 2015) and plants from 39 open habitats (Mott et al., 1984; Gibson, 1996; Jordan et al., 2014). The proportion 40 of stomata found on the upper surface also tends to increase during domestication, 41 even as the total stomatal density stays constant (...