Evaluating the roles of drift and selection in trait loss along an elevational gradient.

ABSTRACT: Traits that have lost function sometimes persist through evolutionary time. Persistence may occur if there is not enough standing genetic variation for the trait to allow a response to selection, if selection against the trait is weak relative to drift, or if the trait has a residual function. To determine the evolutionary processes shaping whether nonfunctional traits are retained or lost, we investigated short stamens in 16 populations of Arabidopsis thaliana along an elevational cline in northeast Spain. A. thaliana is highly self-pollinating and prior work suggests short stamens do not contribute to self-pollination. We found a cline in short stamen number from retention of short stamens in high-elevation populations to incomplete loss in low-elevation populations. We did not find evid

SUBMITTER: Buysse SF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12272167 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature