Antagonistic selection and pleiotropy constrain the evolution of plant chemical defenses.

ABSTRACT: When pleiotropy is present, genetic correlations may constrain the evolution of ecologically important traits. We used a quantitative genetics approach to investigate constraints on the evolution of secondary metabolites in a wild mustard, Boechera stricta. Much of the genetic variation in chemical composition of glucosinolates in B. stricta is controlled by a single locus, BCMA1/3. In a large-scale common garden experiment under natural conditions, we quantified fitness and glucosinolate profile in two leaf types and in fruits. We estimated genetic variances and covariances (the G-matrix) and selection on chemical profile in each tissue. Chemical composition of defenses was strongly genetically correlated between tissues. We found antagonistic selection between defense composition in leav

SUBMITTER: Keith RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6652176 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature