Heterosis is common and inbreeding depression absent in natural populations of
            Arabidopsis thaliana

AbstractNew combinations of genetic material brought together through hybridization can lead to unfit offspring as a result of outbreeding or inbreeding depression. In selfing plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, outbreeding depression is typically the result of pairwise deleterious epistatic interactions between two alleles that can geographically co-occur. What remains elusive is how often alleles resulting in genetic incompatibilities co-occur in natural populations of outcrossing plant species. To address this question, we screened over two thousand five hundred wild Arabidopsis arenosa hybrid plants in search for potential genetic mismatches. We show that although abnormal deleterious phenotypes are common, the transcriptional profiles of these abnormal A. arenosa plants differ substantially from those seen in incompatible A. thaliana hybrids. The abnormal hybrid phenotypes in A. arenosa had different underlying genetic architectures, yet a repeated theme was increased homozygosity, indicating that inbreeding rather than outbreeding depression gives rise to some of the deleterious phenotypes segregating in wild A. arenosa populations.

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Community characteristics of Arabidopsis thaliana natural populations in the northern Tianshan Mountains along with relevant environmental factors

Biodiversity Science ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1003.2009.08169 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 51

Author(s):

Tao Ye ◽

Wang Dan ◽

Liu Tong ◽

Jiang Chengguo ◽

Zhai Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Tianshan Mountains ◽

Community Characteristics ◽

Northern Tianshan

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Identification and Quantification of Coumarins by UHPLC-MS in Arabidopsis Thaliana Natural Populations

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26061804 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (6) ◽

pp. 1804

Author(s):

Izabela Perkowska ◽

Joanna Siwinska ◽

Alexandre Olry ◽

Jérémy Grosjean ◽

Alain Hehn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

High Performance ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Biologically Active ◽

Stress Factors ◽

Mass Spectrometry Analysis ◽

Engineering Research ◽

Spectrometry Analysis ◽

Model Plant Arabidopsis Thaliana

Coumarins are phytochemicals occurring in the plant kingdom, which biosynthesis is induced under various stress factors. They belong to the wide class of specialized metabolites well known for their beneficial properties. Due to their high and wide biological activities, coumarins are important not only for the survival of plants in changing environmental conditions, but are of great importance in the pharmaceutical industry and are an active source for drug development. The identification of coumarins from natural sources has been reported for different plant species including a model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. In our previous work, we demonstrated a presence of naturally occurring intraspecies variation in the concentrations of scopoletin and its glycoside, scopolin, the major coumarins accumulating in Arabidopsis roots. Here, we expanded this work by examining a larger group of 28 Arabidopsis natural populations (called accessions) and by extracting and analysing coumarins from two different types of tissues–roots and leaves. In the current work, by quantifying the coumarin content in plant extracts with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometry analysis (UHPLC-MS), we detected a significant natural variation in the content of simple coumarins like scopoletin, umbelliferone and esculetin together with their glycosides: scopolin, skimmin and esculin, respectively. Increasing our knowledge of coumarin accumulation in Arabidopsis natural populations, might be beneficial for the future discovery of physiological mechanisms of action of various alleles involved in their biosynthesis. A better understanding of biosynthetic pathways of biologically active compounds is the prerequisite step in undertaking a metabolic engineering research.

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Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2016.1023 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 283 (1838) ◽

pp. 20161023 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Natalie Pilakouta ◽

Per T. Smiseth

Keyword(s):

Maternal Effects ◽

Inbreeding Depression ◽

Potential Role ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Larval Survival ◽

Burying Beetle ◽

Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽

Selection For

A maternal effect is a causal influence of the maternal phenotype on the offspring phenotype over and above any direct effects of genes. There is abundant evidence that maternal effects can have a major impact on offspring fitness. Yet, no previous study has investigated the potential role of maternal effects in influencing the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. Inbreeding depression is a reduction in the fitness of inbred offspring relative to outbred offspring. Here, we tested whether maternal effects due to body size alter the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides . We found that inbreeding depression in larval survival was more severe for offspring of large females than offspring of small females. This might be due to differences in how small and large females invest in an inbred brood because of their different prospects for future breeding opportunities. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence for a causal effect of the maternal phenotype on the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. In natural populations that are subject to inbreeding, maternal effects may drive variation in inbreeding depression and therefore contribute to variation in the strength and direction of selection for inbreeding avoidance.

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Reproductive Assurance Maintains Red-Flowered Plants of Lysimachia arvensis in Mediterranean Populations Despite Inbreeding Depression

Frontiers in Plant Science ◽

10.3389/fpls.2020.563110 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Francisco J. Jiménez-López ◽

Pedro L. Ortiz ◽

María Talavera ◽

Montserrat Arista

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Genetic Differentiation ◽

Inbreeding Depression ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Flower Color ◽

Selfed Progeny ◽

Mediterranean Populations ◽

Mediterranean Areas ◽

Flower Color Polymorphism

Flower color polymorphism, an infrequent but phylogenetically widespread condition in plants, is captivating because it can only be maintained under a few selective regimes but also because it can drive intra-morph assortative mating and promote speciation. Lysimachia arvensis is a polymorphic species with red or blue flowered morphs. In polymorphic populations, which are mostly Mediterranean, pollinators prefer blue-flowered plants to the red ones, and abiotic factors also favors blue-flowered plants. We hypothesize that the red morph is maintained in Mediterranean areas due to its selfing capacity. We assessed inbreeding depression in both color morphs in two Mediterranean populations and genetic diversity was studied via SSR microsatellites in 20 natural populations. Results showed that only 44–47% of selfed progeny of the red plants reached reproduction while about 72–91% of blue morph progeny did it. Between-morph genetic differentiation was high and the red morph had a lower genetic diversity and a higher inbreeding coefficient, mainly in the Mediterranean. Results suggest that selfing maintaining the red morph in Mediterranean areas despite its inbreeding depression. In addition, genetic differentiation between morphs suggests a low gene flow between them, suggesting reproductive isolation.

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Variation in the expression of a transmembrane protein influences cell growth in Arabidopsis thaliana petals by altering auxin responses

BMC Plant Biology ◽

10.1186/s12870-020-02698-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte N. Miller ◽

Jack Dumenil ◽

Fu Hao Lu ◽

Caroline Smith ◽

Neil McKenzie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Genetic Variation ◽

Cell Growth ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Cell Size ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Organ Size ◽

Substantial Contribution ◽

Over Expression

Abstract Background The same species of plant can exhibit very diverse sizes and shapes of organs that are genetically determined. Characterising genetic variation underlying this morphological diversity is an important objective in evolutionary studies and it also helps identify the functions of genes influencing plant growth and development. Extensive screens of mutagenised Arabidopsis populations have identified multiple genes and mechanisms affecting organ size and shape, but relatively few studies have exploited the rich diversity of natural populations to identify genes involved in growth control. Results We screened a relatively well characterised collection of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions for variation in petal size. Association analyses identified sequence and gene expression variation on chromosome 4 that made a substantial contribution to differences in petal area. Variation in the expression of a previously uncharacterised gene At4g16850 (named as KSK) had a substantial role on variation in organ size by influencing cell size. Over-expression of KSK led to larger petals with larger cells and promoted the formation of stamenoid features. The expression of auxin-responsive genes known to limit cell growth was reduced in response to KSK over-expression. ANT expression was also reduced in KSK over-expression lines, consistent with altered floral identities. Auxin responses were reduced in KSK over-expressing cells, consistent with changes in auxin-responsive gene expression. KSK may therefore influence auxin responses during petal development. Conclusions Understanding how genetic variation influences plant growth is important for both evolutionary and mechanistic studies. We used natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana to identify sequence variation in a promoter region of Arabidopsis accessions that mediated differences in the expression of a previously uncharacterised membrane protein. This variation contributed to altered auxin responses and cell size during petal growth.

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Genetic differentiation of neutral markers and quantitative traits in predominantly selfing metapopulations: confronting theory and experiments with Arabidopsis thaliana

Genetics Research ◽

10.1017/s0016672306007920 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

EMMANUELLE PORCHER ◽

TATIANA GIRAUD ◽

CLAIRE LAVIGNE

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Genetic Differentiation ◽

Quantitative Traits ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Additive Model ◽

Linkage Disequilibria ◽

Large Populations ◽

Selfing Species ◽

Theory And Experiments

The comparison of the genetic differentiation of quantitative traits (QST) and molecular markers (FST) can inform on the strength and spatial heterogeneity of selection in natural populations, provided that markers behave neutrally. However, selection may influence the behaviour of markers in selfing species with strong linkage disequilibria among loci, therefore invalidating this test of detection of selection. We address this issue by monitoring the genetic differentiation of five microsatellite loci (FST) and nine quantitative traits (QST) in experimental metapopulations of the predominantly selfing species Arabidopsis thaliana, that evolved during eight generations. Metapopulations differed with respect to population size and selection heterogeneity. In large populations, the genetic differentiation of neutral microsatellites was much larger under heterogeneous selection than under uniform selection. Using simulations, we show that this influence of selection heterogeneity on FST can be attributable to initial linkage disequilibria among loci, creating stronger genetic differentiation of QTL than expected under a simple additive model with no initial linkage. We found no significant differences between FST and QST regardless of selection heterogeneity, despite a demonstrated effect of selection on QST values. Additional data are required to validate the role of mating system and linkage disequilibria in the joint evolution of neutral and selected genetic differentiation, but our results suggest that FST/QST comparisons can be conservative tests to detect selection in selfing species.

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Breakdown of gametophytic self-incompatibility in subdivided populations

10.1101/444125 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas Brom ◽

Vincent Castric ◽

Sylvain Billiard

Keyword(s):

Inbreeding Depression ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Simulation Models ◽

Population Subdivision ◽

Self Incompatibility ◽

S Locus ◽

Isolated Populations ◽

Data Accessibility ◽

Local Diversity ◽

Subdivided Populations

AbstractMany hermaphroditic flowering plants species possess a genetic self-incompatibility (SI) system that prevents self-fertilization and is typically controlled by a single multiallelic locus, the S-locus. The conditions under which SI can be stably maintained in single isolated populations are well known and depend chiefly on the level of inbreeding depression and the number of SI alleles segregating at the S-locus. However, while both the number of SI alleles and the level of inbreeding depression are potentially affected by population subdivision, the conditions for the maintenance of SI in subdivided populations remain to be studied. In this paper, we combine analytical predictions and two different individual-based simulation models to show that population subdivision can severely compromise the maintenance of SI. Under the conditions we explored, this effect is mainly driven by the decrease of the local diversity of SI alleles rather than by a change in the dynamics of inbreeding depression. We discuss the implications of our results for the interpretation of empirical data on the loss of SI in natural populations.Data accessibility statementNo data to be archived

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Variation in the expression of a transmembrane protein influences cell growth in Arabidopsis thaliana petals by altering auxin responses.

10.21203/rs.2.22204/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte N. Miller ◽

Jack Dumenil ◽

Fu Hao Lu ◽

Caroline Smith ◽

Neil McKenzie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Genetic Variation ◽

Cell Growth ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Cell Size ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Organ Size ◽

Substantial Contribution ◽

Over Expression

Abstract Background The same species of plant can exhibit highly diverse sizes and shapes of organs that are genetically determined. Characterising genetic variation underlying this morphological diversity is an important objective in evolutionary studies and it also helps identify the functions of genes influencing plant growth and development. Extensive screens of mutagenised Arabidopsis populations have identified multiple genes and mechanisms affecting organ size and shape, but relatively few studies have exploited the rich diversity of natural populations to identify genes involved in growth control. Results We screened a relatively well characterised collection of Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes for variation in petal size. Association analyses identified sequence and gene expression variation on chromosome 4 that made a substantial contribution to differences in petal area. Variation in the expression of a previously uncharacterised gene At4g16850 (named as KSK ) had a substantial role on variation in organ size by influencing cell size. Over-expression of KSK led to larger petals with larger cells and promoted the formation of stamenoid features. The expression of auxin-responsive genes known to limit cell growth was reduced in response to KSK over-expression. ANT expression was also reduced in KSK over-expression lines, consistent with altered floral identities. Auxin responses were reduced in KSK over-expressing cells, consistent with changes in auxin-responsive gene expression. KSK may therefore influence auxin availability during petal development. Conclusions Understanding how genetic variation influences plant growth is important for both evolutionary and mechanistic studies. We used natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana to identify sequence variation in a promoter region of Arabidopsis ecotypes that mediated differences in the expression of a previously undescribed membrane protein. This variation contributed to altered auxin availability and cell size during petal growth.

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