The scale of population structure in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Abstract
The population structure of an organism reflects its evolutionary history and influences
its evolutionary trajectory. It constrains the combination of genetic diversity and
reveals patterns of past gene flow. Understanding it is a prerequisite for detecting
genomic regions under selection, predicting the effect of population disturbances,
or modeling gene flow. This paper examines the detailed global population structure
of Arabidopsis thaliana. Using a set of 5,707 plants collected from around the globe
and genotyped at 149 SNPs, we show that while A. thaliana as a species self-fertilizes
97% of the time, there is considerable variation among local groups. This level of
outcrossing greatly limits observed heterozygosity but is sufficient to generate considerable
local haplotypic diversity. We also find that in its native Eurasian range A. thaliana
exhibits continuous isolation by distance at every geographic scale without natural
breaks corresponding to classical notions of populations. By contrast, in North America,
where it exists as an exotic species, A. thaliana exhibits little or no population
structure at a continental scale but local isolation by distance that extends hundreds
of km. This suggests a pattern for the development of isolation by distance that can
establish itself shortly after an organism fills a new habitat range. It also raises
questions about the general applicability of many standard population genetics models.
Any model based on discrete clusters of interchangeable individuals will be an uneasy
fit to organisms like A. thaliana which exhibit continuous isolation by distance on
many scales.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AllelesArabidopsis
Crosses, Genetic
Geography
Haplotypes
Heterozygote
Inbreeding
Population Dynamics
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http://hdl.handle.net/10161/4463Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1371/journal.pgen.1000843Publication Info
Agren, J; Anastasio, AE; Bergelson, J; Borevitz, JO; Bossdorf, O; Byers, D; ... Weigel, D (2010). The scale of population structure in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Genet, 6(2). pp. e1000843. 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000843. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10161/4463.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Kathleen Donohue
Professor of Biology
We investigate the genetic basis of adaptation, including the evolution of phenotypic
plasticity and maternal effects, the adaptive value of epigenetic modifications, niche
construction, dispersal, and mechanisms of multilevel natural selection.
Alyssa Platt
Biostatistician II
Education: Masters Degree, Applied Economics. Duke University. 2007Bachelors Degree,
Economics and Mathematics. University of North Carolina at GreensboroOverview: Alyssa
has ongoing collaborations with faculty from Duke Global Health Institute. Her professional
experience involves analysis and evaluation of health policy in areas of obesity,
physical activity and nutrition, health care access, and infectious disease. She is
experienced in longitudinal and cros
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