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PMID: 30520727 Published · epublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Drought adaptation in Arabidopsis thaliana by extensive genetic loss-of-function.

eLife ·Vol. 7 ·2018-00-06

Monroe JG, Powell T, Price N, Mullen JL, Howard A, Evans K, Lovell JT, McKay JK

Abstract

Interdisciplinary syntheses are needed to scale up discovery of the environmental drivers and molecular basis of adaptation in nature. Here we integrated novel approaches using whole genome sequences, satellite remote sensing, and transgenic experiments to study natural loss-of-function alleles associated with drought histories in wild Arabidopsis thaliana. The genes we identified exhibit population genetic signatures of parallel molecular evolution, selection for loss-of-function, and shared associations with flowering time phenotypes in directions consistent with longstanding adaptive hypotheses seven times more often than expected by chance. We then confirmed predicted phenotypes experimentally in transgenic knockout lines. These findings reveal the importance of drought timing to explain the evolution of alternative drought tolerance strategies and further challenge popular assumptions about the adaptive value of genetic loss-of-function in nature. These results also motivate improved species-wide sequencing efforts to better identify loss-of-function variants and inspire new opportunities for engineering climate resilience in crops.

Keywords
A. thaliana climate adaptation drought tolerance evolutionary biology functional genomics gene editing genetics genomics molecular evolution remote sensing
MeSH Terms
Adaptation, Physiological/genetics Arabidopsis/genetics Droughts Flowers/genetics Gene Expression Profiling Loss of Function Mutation Phenotype Plants, Genetically Modified Stress, Physiological Time Factors
Authors & Affiliations
8 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Monroe J Grey ORCID
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States. | Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States.
Powell Tyler
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States. | Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States.
Price Nicholas ORCID
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States.
Mullen Jack L
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States.
Howard Anne
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States.
Evans Kyle ORCID
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States.
Lovell John T ORCID
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, United States.
McKay John K
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States. | Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States.
Conflict of Interest

JM, TP, NP, JM, AH, KE, JL, JM No competing interests declared

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Article Info
Journal
eLife
Abbr.
Elife
ISSN
2050-084X
DOI
10.7554/eLife.41038
Published
2018-00-06
Epub
2018-00-06
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
101579614
PMCID
PMC6326724
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.7554/eLife.41038 PMC Full Text View journal details
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