Genome-Wide Association Study in Arabidopsis thaliana of Natural Variation in Seed Oil Melting Point: A Widespread Adaptive Trait in Plants.

ABSTRACT: Seed oil melting point is an adaptive, quantitative trait determined by the relative proportions of the fatty acids that compose the oil. Micro- and macro-evolutionary evidence suggests selection has changed the melting point of seed oils to covary with germination temperatures because of a trade-off between total energy stores and the rate of energy acquisition during germination under competition. The seed oil compositions of 391 natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana, grown under common-garden conditions, were used to assess whether seed oil melting point within a species varied with germination temperature. In support of the adaptive explanation, long-term monthly spring and fall field temperatures of the accession collection sites significantly predicted their seed oil melting poi

SUBMITTER: Branham SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4885241 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature