TY - JOUR
T1 - Altitudinal and climatic associations of seed dormancy and flowering traits evidence adaptation of annual life cycle timing in Arabidopsis thaliana
AU - Vidigal, Deborah S.
AU - Marques, Alexandre C.S.S.
AU - Willems, Leo A.J.
AU - Buijs, Gonda
AU - Méndez-Vigo, Belén
AU - Hilhorst, Henk W.M.
AU - Bentsink, Leónie
AU - Picó, F. Xavier
AU - Alonso-Blanco, Carlos
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2016/8/1
Y1 - 2016/8/1
N2 - The temporal control or timing of the life cycle of annual plants is presumed to provide adaptive strategies to escape harsh environments for survival and reproduction. This is mainly determined by the timing of germination, which is controlled by the level of seed dormancy, and of flowering initiation. However, the environmental factors driving the evolution of plant life cycles remain largely unknown. To address this question we have analysed nine quantitative life history traits, in a native regional collection of 300 wild accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana. Seed dormancy and flowering time were negatively correlated, indicating that these traits have coevolved. In addition, environmental–phenotypic analyses detected strong altitudinal and climatic clines for most life history traits. Overall, accessions showing life cycles with early flowering, small seeds, high seed dormancy and slow germination rate were associated with locations exposed to high temperature, low summer precipitation and high radiation. Furthermore, we analysed the expression level of the positive regulator of seed dormancy DELAY OF GERMINATION 1 (DOG1), finding similar but weaker altitudinal and climatic patterns than seed dormancy. Therefore, DOG1 regulatory mutations are likely to provide a quantitative molecular mechanism for the adaptation of A. thaliana life cycle to altitude and climate.
AB - The temporal control or timing of the life cycle of annual plants is presumed to provide adaptive strategies to escape harsh environments for survival and reproduction. This is mainly determined by the timing of germination, which is controlled by the level of seed dormancy, and of flowering initiation. However, the environmental factors driving the evolution of plant life cycles remain largely unknown. To address this question we have analysed nine quantitative life history traits, in a native regional collection of 300 wild accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana. Seed dormancy and flowering time were negatively correlated, indicating that these traits have coevolved. In addition, environmental–phenotypic analyses detected strong altitudinal and climatic clines for most life history traits. Overall, accessions showing life cycles with early flowering, small seeds, high seed dormancy and slow germination rate were associated with locations exposed to high temperature, low summer precipitation and high radiation. Furthermore, we analysed the expression level of the positive regulator of seed dormancy DELAY OF GERMINATION 1 (DOG1), finding similar but weaker altitudinal and climatic patterns than seed dormancy. Therefore, DOG1 regulatory mutations are likely to provide a quantitative molecular mechanism for the adaptation of A. thaliana life cycle to altitude and climate.
KW - DELAY OF GERMINATION 1 (DOG1)
KW - cis-regulation
KW - climate
KW - flowering time
KW - natural variation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84964981014&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/pce.12734
DO - 10.1111/pce.12734
M3 - Article
C2 - 26991665
AN - SCOPUS:84964981014
SN - 0140-7791
VL - 39
SP - 1737
EP - 1748
JO - Plant, Cell and Environment
JF - Plant, Cell and Environment
IS - 8
ER -