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Genetic architecture of traits associated with serpentine adaptation of Silene vulgaris
Author(s) -
BRATTELER M.,
LEXER C.,
WIDMER A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01090.x
Subject(s) - biology , genetic architecture , quantitative trait locus , ecotype , adaptation (eye) , local adaptation , pleiotropy , ecological genetics , silene , intraspecific competition , evolutionary biology , population , biological dispersal , ecology , genetics , gene , phenotype , demography , neuroscience , sociology
Abstract Serpentine soils provide a difficult substrate for plant colonization and growth and therefore represent an ideal system for studying the genetics of habitat adaptation and the evolution of plant‐ecotypes. Using an F2 mapping population derived from an intraspecific cross between a serpentine and a nonserpentine ecotype of Silene vulgaris, the genetic architecture of seven morphological, physiological and life‐history traits was explored. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis identified 23 QTLs, 15 of which were classified as major QTLs. The observed genetic architecture suggests that traits potentially involved in habitat adaptation are controlled by few genes of major effect and have evolved under consistent directional selection. Several linkage groups harboured overlapping QTLs for different traits, which can be due to either pleiotropy or linkage. The potential roles of these factors and of the time available for habitat adaptation and ecological speciation on serpentine are discussed.