SELECTION IN A MODEL SYSTEM: ECOLOGICAL GENETICS OF FLOWERING TIME IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA

Abstract

Arabidopsis thaliana and some of its close allies have been a model system for genetics, developmental biology, and molecular biology for some time. More recently, they have been adopted by an increasing number of laboratories involved in evolutionary ecological research. In this paper, I illustrate some of the methods and advantages concerning the use of Arabidopsis to study selection and the constraints imposed on it by the genetic architecture underlying morphological and life history traits. Populations of A. thaliana and closely related species show a wider ecological variance than had been suspected, and it is increasingly clear that even such a relatively simple organism presents endless challenges to ecologists and evolutionary biologists. The study of the evolution of life history traits in this group also provides us with an invaluable opportunity to advance our search for ways to integrate biological knowledge at the organismal and molecular levels. At the same time, these efforts also yield a better understanding of the type of research that can be carried out independently at these two levels of the biological hierarchy.