Evolutionary responses of plants to environmental changes through the lens of ecological theories: an experimental test using the model species Arabidopsis thaliana

生物体，特别是植物，适应不断变化的环境条件的能力是进化生态学的核心兴趣，考虑到快速的全球气候变化，理解这一过程非常重要。适应可能会受到遗传漂变、环境异质性、基因流动和缺乏潜在性状的遗传变异的阻碍。此外，生态学理论指出，植物不能同时有效地完成某些任务，例如获取和保存资源，或者既有竞争力又有胁迫耐受力。由此产生的权衡最初在比较生态学中被确定为对生命形式和功能多样化的主要限制，但这些限制的普遍适用性仍有待阐明。实验进化提供了一个强大的机会来检验真实的时间选择的过程，速度和强度，以及测试突出的生态假说的有效性。ARABREED项目将评估主要生态权衡的变化和植物种群的潜在等位基因组成，以应对生物和非生物压力相结合的控制选择压力。重要的是，ARABREED将受益于模式物种拟南芥上产生的广泛遗传物质，在资源（养分和水）可用性和草食性对比的环境中进行三代以上的实验进化。我们将使用350个F2群体（500，000个基因型），这些群体先前是从欧亚大陆收集的400个表型和测序的自然种质之间的随机杂交产生的。这可能重新创造了被认为是从自然种群中清除的表型，并使祖先和适应种群的遗传和表型多样性得以实现。进化中的植物将在原位进行表型分析，并在受控条件下收集进行分析（非原位表型分析），相互移植实验和下一代测序（pool-seq）。除了分析性状协变和遗传权衡的进化轨迹外，还将结果与在全球范围内对同一物种进行的多地点进化实验中在可变气候下的进化结果进行比较。在对比环境中生长的小型短命模式物种上的实验进化提供了一个强有力的工具来检查种内表型变异的程度，限制和选择在塑造普遍的生态权衡中的作用，以及确定对特定性状选择的潜在限制。该项目-在比较生态学，进化生物学和人口基因组学的交叉点-是多方面的，高度跨学科的。因此，ARABREED在推进基础和应用生命科学方面具有巨大潜力。

The ability of organisms, specifically plants, to adapt to changing environmental conditions is of central interest in evolutionary ecology, and understanding this process is important given rapid global climate change. Adaptation can be hampered by genetic drift, environmental heterogeneity, gene flow, and lack of genetic variance of underlying traits. Moreover, ecological theory states that plants cannot simultaneously be efficient at certain tasks, such as acquiring and conserving resources, or be both competitive and stress tolerant. Resulting trade-offs were originally identified in comparative ecology as major constraints on the diversification of life forms and functions, but the general applicability of these constraints remains to be elucidated.Experimental evolution provides a formidable opportunity to examine the process, rate and strength of selection in real time, as well as to test the validity of prominent ecological hypotheses. The ARABREED project will assess changes in major ecological trade-offs and the underlying allelic composition of plant populations in response to controlled selection pressures combining biotic and abiotic stresses. Importantly, ARABREED will benefit from extensive genetic material generated on the model species Arabidopsis thaliana to conduct experimental evolution over three generations in environments contrasting in resource (nutrient and water) availability and herbivory. We will use 350 F2 populations (500,000 genotypes) previously generated from random crosses between 400 phenotyped and sequenced natural accessions collected across Eurasia. This has likely recreated phenotypes thought to be purged from natural populations and gives access to genetic and phenotypic diversity in both ancestral and adapted populations. Evolving plants will be phenotyped in situ and collected for analysis in controlled conditions (ex situ phenotyping), reciprocal transplant experiments and next-generation sequencing (pool-seq). In addition to the analysis of the evolutionary trajectories of trait covariations and genetic trade-offs, results will be compared to evolutionary outcomes under variable climates in a multi-site evolution experiment conducted on the same species worldwide.Experimental evolution on a small, short-lived model species grown in contrasting environments provides a powerful tool to examine the extent of intraspecific phenotypic variability, the role of constraints and selection in shaping pervasive ecological trade-offs, as well as to identify potential limits for selection on specific traits. The project - at the intersection of comparative ecology, evolutionary biology and population genomics - is multifaceted and highly transdisciplinary. ARABREED therefore carries large potential to advance both fundamental and applied life sciences.