Genome size variation and evolution during invasive range expansion in an introduced plant.

ABSTRACT: Plants demonstrate exceptional variation in genome size across species, and their genome sizes can also vary dramatically across individuals and populations within species. This aspect of genetic variation can have consequences for traits and fitness, but few studies attributed genome size differentiation to ecological and evolutionary processes. Biological invasions present particularly useful natural laboratories to infer selective agents that might drive genome size shifts across environments and population histories. Here, we test hypotheses for the evolutionary causes of genome size variation across 14 invading populations of yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis, in California, United States. We use a survey of genome sizes and trait variation to ask: (1) Is variation in

SUBMITTER: Cang FA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10810172 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature