The molecular basis of response to selection for early flowering time This project is funded by NERC and is spearheaded by Dr. Nora Scarcelli

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A major goal of evolutionary genetics is to understand how genetic changes contribute to adaptive evolution. To achieve such an understanding it is necessary to combine knowledge of the genetic basis of traits under selection with knowledge of how natural selection acts on the genetic variation available. The fact that most traits of ecological, evolutionary and economical importance are complex (i.e. determined by multiple loci and affected by the environment), has made it difficult to study the evolutionary process at the genetic level empirically. Clearly, the evolutionary response of a trait to selection (i.e., changes in the trait mean across generations) is expected to cause changes in allele frequencies. However, empirical data on genome wide response to selection on a complex trait are currently very limited (but see Keightley and Bulfield, 1993; Nuzhdin et al., 1999; Ungerer et al., 2003). The goal of this project is to identify genetic factors that mediate evolutionary changes in flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana in response to selection. This will be accomplished by investigating genome-wide changes in allele frequencies in response to selection for earlier flowering time under winter and spring annual conditions. Flowering time in A. thaliana is an ideal trait in which to bridge selection at the phenotypic level with response at the genomic level because flowering time has been studied by molecular, developmental and evolutionary biologists for a long time. Furthermore, flowering time is a key character for local adaptation in many species. The proposed research will take advantage of a unique outbred population developed by Dr. Kover in collaboration with Professors James Cheverud and Barbara Schaal from Washington University – St. Louis (USA). This population was created by five generations of random mating of 19 accessions chosen from a widespread geographical distribution. By combining the extensive genomic and functional data that exists for A. thaliana with the ability to perform experimental selection, it will be possible to address important questions about the genetic process of adaptation that could not be investigated with any other plant system.

Comparison of plant at bolting time that has grown under Spring-annual conditions (left) and winter-annual conditions (right).

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