Evolutionary and ecological perspectives on the wheat phenotype.

ABSTRACT: Technologies, from molecular genetics to precision agriculture, are outpacing theory, which is becoming a bottleneck for crop improvement. Here, we outline theoretical insights on the wheat phenotype from the perspective of three evolutionary and ecologically important relations-mother-offspring, plant-insect and plant-plant. The correlation between yield and grain number has been misinterpreted as cause-and-effect; an evolutionary perspective shows a striking similarity between crop and fishes. Both respond to environmental variation through offspring number; seed and egg size are conserved. The offspring of annual plants and semelparous fishes, lacking parental care, are subject to mother-offspring conflict and stabilizing selection. Labile reserve carbohydrates do not fit the current mo

SUBMITTER: Sadras VO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8424313 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature