The genomic basis of plant adaptation

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Canada is a land of many climates and environments, from temperate forest to tundra and prairie to alpine. Plants are adapted to these environments and, even within a species, populations may be found that are genetically adapted to local environments. Precise adaptation of this sort is essential for productive plant growth in agriculture and forestry but the genetic basis of this process is incompletely known. The long term objective of this program of research is to use recent advances in genomics to determine the genome-wide architecture of plant adaptation. The main focus will be on the black cottonwood trees of British Columbia, which we have shown to exhibit extensive local adaptation to the varied terrain. Knowledge of plant adaptation is important for predicting the effect of climate change on ecosystems and for forest improvement and will facilitate conservation and appropriate use of native Canadian trees.