Abstract
Many model organisms were chosen and achieved prominence because of an advantageous combination of their life‐history characteristics, genetic properties and also practical considerations. Discoveries made in Arabidopsis thaliana, the most renowned noncrop plant model species, have markedly stimulated studies in other species with different biology. Within the family Brassicaceae, the arctic–alpine Arabis alpina has become a model complementary to Arabidopsis thaliana to study the evolution of life‐history traits, such as perenniality, and ecological genomics in harsh environments. In this review, we provide an overview of the properties that facilitated the rapid emergence of A. alpina as a plant model. We summarize the evolutionary history of A. alpina, including genomic aspects, the diversification of its mating system and demographic properties, and we discuss recent progress in the molecular dissection of developmental traits that are related to its perennial life history and environmental adaptation. From this published knowledge, we derive open questions that might inspire future research in A. alpina, other Brassicaceae species or more distantly related plant families.
Highlights
Describing and understanding the overwhelming diversity of life forms depends on the establishment of model species as common study platforms and references (Box 1)
The last helps explain why many Brassicaceae nowadays serve as model systems that emerged in the backwash of Arabidopsis thaliana
There are other reasons, such as contrasting traits to those found in Arabidopsis thaliana, and challenges in various aspects, which make A. alpina a species which will attract further research: perenniality, variation in mating system among populations, variation in flowering behaviour, potential for adventitious rooting, nonsegregating pericentromeric regions and adaptation to arctic–alpine environment to name a few
Summary
Describing and understanding the overwhelming diversity of life forms depends on the establishment of model species as common study platforms and references (Box 1). There are other reasons, such as contrasting traits to those found in Arabidopsis thaliana, and challenges in various aspects, which make A. alpina a species which will attract further research: perenniality, variation in mating system among populations, variation in flowering behaviour, potential for adventitious rooting, nonsegregating pericentromeric regions and adaptation to arctic–alpine environment to name a few.
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