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Genetic mechanisms and evolutionary significance of natural variation in Arabidopsis

Nature volume 441, pages 947–952 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Genomic studies of natural variation in model organisms provide a bridge between molecular analyses of gene function and evolutionary investigations of adaptation and natural selection. In the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, recent studies of natural variation have led to the identification of genes underlying ecologically important complex traits, and provided new insights about the processes of genome evolution, geographic population structure, and the selective mechanisms shaping complex trait variation in natural populations. These advances illustrate the potential for a new synthesis to elucidate mechanisms for the adaptive evolution of complex traits from nucleotide sequences to real-world environments.

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Figure 1: Arabidopsis habitats.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Noor, M. Nordborg and our collaborators and laboratory members for discussion and comments. T.M.-O. and J.S. were supported by Duke University and the National Science Foundation, respectively.

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  1. Department of Biology, Duke University, PO Box 91000, North Carolina, 27708, Durham, USA

    Thomas Mitchell-Olds

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Box G-W, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA

    Johanna Schmitt

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Correspondence to Thomas Mitchell-Olds.

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Mitchell-Olds, T., Schmitt, J. Genetic mechanisms and evolutionary significance of natural variation in Arabidopsis. Nature 441, 947–952 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04878

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