Strong stabilizing selection on timing of germination in a Mediterranean population of Arabidopsis thaliana.

ABSTRACT:

Premise

Timing of germination can strongly influence plant fitness by affecting seedling survival and by having cascading effects on later life-history traits. In seasonal environments, the period favorable for seedling establishment and growth is limited, and timing of germination is likely to be under stabilizing selection because of conflicting selection through survival and fecundity. Moreover, optimal germination time may vary among genotypes because of inherent differences in later life-history traits.

Methods

To examine how germination time affects survival, fecundity, and the relative fitness of two genotypes differing in time to first flower, we conducted a field experiment in an Italian population of the winter annual Arabidopsis thaliana, in which seedling establi

SUBMITTER: Zacchello G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7756891 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature