Rapid local adaptation in both sexual and asexual invasive populations of monkeyflowers (Mimulus spp.).

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Traditionally, local adaptation has been seen as the outcome of a long evolutionary history, particularly with regard to sexual lineages. By contrast, phenotypic plasticity has been thought to be most important during the initial stages of population establishment and in asexual species. We evaluated the roles of adaptive evolution and phenotypic plasticity in the invasive success of two closely related species of invasive monkeyflowers (Mimulus) in the UK that have contrasting reproductive strategies: M. guttatus combines sexual (seeds) and asexual (clonal growth) reproduction while M. × robertsii is entirely asexual.

Methods

We compared the clonality (number of stolons), floral and vegetative phenotype, and phenotypic plasticity of native (M. guttatus)

SUBMITTER: Simon-Porcar VI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8052927 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature