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Gene expression links genotype and phenotype during rapid adaptation
Author(s) -
Josephs Emily B.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.15729
Subject(s) - biology , adaptation (eye) , phenotype , gene , transcriptome , brassica rapa , gene expression , genetics , evolutionary biology , local adaptation , genotype , genotype phenotype distinction , computational biology , population , neuroscience , demography , sociology
Natural environments can change quickly and organisms living in these environments can either move, go extinct, or persist through rapid adaptation. Understanding the genetic and phenotypic changes that occur during rapid adaptation is crucial for predicting how populations will respond to sudden environmental changes. Since gene expression links genotype to phenotype, determining how rapid adaptation shapes the transcriptome will be useful for identifying both the traits and the genes important for adaptation, especially in cases where adaptation involves changes in quantitative traits. However, we lack a clear understanding of how rapid adaptation can cause and be caused by changes in gene expression. In this issue of Molecular Ecology , Hamann et al. (2020) investigate how gene expression has evolved during rapid adaptation to drought in two populations of the plant species Brassica rapa .