The Genetic Basis of Plant Functional Traits and the Evolution of Plant-Environment Interactions
Name
Guilherme-Pereira Desmarais IJPS 2020.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
631.8 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
7c41d31b3a15ac0482e201b44cdd3aad
Author(s)
Guilherme Pereira, Caio
Des Marais, David Lee
Date Issued
November 2019
Journal
International Journal of Plant Sciences
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Citation
Guilherme Pereira, Caio and David L. Des Marais. "The Genetic Basis of Plant Functional Traits and the Evolution of Plant-Environment Interactions." International Journal of Plant Sciences 181, 1 (January 2020): http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/706190 © 2019 The University of Chicago
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Leaves are the most conspicuous organs of plants, and their form and function are key determinants of plant ecology. Moreover, energy captured by leaves through photosynthetic carbon reduction forms the base of nearly every terrestrial ecosystem. As such, the morphology and physiology of leaves have been a central focus of research on plant ecophysiology, development, and evolution. We review recent research on the genetic basis of leaf structure and nutrient profile, as well as stomatal patterning, as exemplar traits for understanding the evolution of plant functional traits. We discuss available and emerging methods for determining the genetic basis of plant traits and then present a synthetic assessment of the molecular basis of each trait and the extent to which patterns of natural diversity are relevant to ecoevolutionary analysis. Overall, we find that research on these three traits has emerged from different subdisciplines in biology. We have a deep understanding of the developmental genetics of leaf size and stomatal patterning and, to a lesser degree, leaf shape, though research on these has been limited to a small number of plant species. By contrast, there is a deep literature describing natural genetic diversity of leaf nitrogen content due, in part, to the ease of measuring this trait in large genetic mapping populations. The molecular control of leaf phosphorus concentration, on the other hand, has been severely understudied. For all three traits, there are few examples of studies that have empirically linked molecular genetic variation in specific genes with phenotypic diversity observed in natural populations of plants. We conclude by discussing present challenges with synthesizing different traditions in genetics, physiology, development, and evolution and prospects for progress in the coming years.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1086/706190
