Evolution of flowering time in a selfing annual plant: Roles of adaptation and genetic drift
Résumé
Resurrection studies are a useful tool to measure how phenotypic traits have changed in populations and they allow testing whether these traits modifications are a response to selection caused by an environmental change. Selfing, through its reduction of effective size, could challenge the ability of a population to adapt to environmental changes. Here, we used a resurrection study to test for adaptation in a selfing population of Medicago truncatula , by comparing the genetic composition and flowering across 22 generations. We found evidence for evolution towards earlier flowering times by about two days and a peculiar genetic structure, typical for highly selfing population, where some multilocus genotypes (MLGs) are persistent through time. We used the change in frequency of the MLGs through time as a multilocus fitness measure and built a selection gradient that suggests evolution towards earlier flowering times. Yet, a simulation model revealed that the observed change in flowering time could be explained by drift alone, provided the effective size of the population is small enough (<150). These analyses suffer from the difficulty to estimate the effective size in a highly selfing population, where effective recombination is severely reduced.
Fichier principal
AGAP_2021_GAY_Ecology_and_Evolution_CC_BY_Evolution_of_flowering_time_selfing_annual_plant_adaptation_genetic_drift.pdf (1.3 Mo)
Télécharger le fichier
Origine | Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte |
---|