Paternal effects in Arabidopsis indicate that offspring can influence their own size

The existence of genetic variation in offspring size in plants and animals is puzzling because offspring size is often strongly associated with fitness and expected to be under stabilizing selection. An explanation for variation in seed size is conflict between parents and between parents and offspring. However, for this hypothesis to be true, it must be shown that the offspring genotype can affect its own size. The existence of paternal effects would support this hypothesis, but these have rarely been shown. Using a diallel cross among four natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana we show that maternal, paternal and positional effects jointly influence seed size, number and the frequency of seed abortion. We found that seed abortion (%) depends on the combination of maternal and paternal genotypes, suggesting the existence of mate choice or epistatic incompatibility among accessions of A. thaliana. In addition, since paternal genotype explains approximately 10 per cent of the variation in seed size, we propose that A. thaliana''s offspring must influence the amount of resources allocated to themselves. Identification of paternal effects in Arabidopsis should facilitate dissection of the genetic mechanisms involved in paternal effects.     

Plant responses to elevated temperatures: a field study on phenological sensitivity and fitness responses to simulated climate warming

Significant changes in plant phenology have been observed in response to increases in mean global temperatures. There are concerns that accelerated phenologies can negatively impact plant populations. However, the fitness consequence of changes in phenology in response to elevated temperature is not well understood, particularly under field conditions. We address this issue by exposing a set of recombinant inbred lines of Arabidopsis thaliana to a simulated global warming treatment in the field. We find that plants exposed to elevated temperatures flower earlier, as predicted by photothermal models. However, contrary to life‐history trade‐off expectations, they also flower at a larger vegetative size, suggesting that warming probably causes acceleration in vegetative development. Although warming increases mean fitness (fruit production) by ca. 25%, there is a significant genotype‐by‐environment interaction. Changes in fitness rank indicate that imminent climate change can cause populations to be maladapted in their new environment, if adaptive evolution is limited. Thus, changes in the genetic composition of populations are likely, depending on the species’ generation time and the speed of temperature change. Interestingly, genotypes that show stronger phenological responses have higher fitness under elevated temperatures, suggesting that phenological sensitivity might be a good indicator of success under elevated temperature at the genotypic level as well as at the species level.     

A Multiparent Advanced Generation Inter-Cross to Fine-Map Quantitative Traits in Arabidopsis thaliana

Identifying natural allelic variation that underlies quantitative trait variation remains a fundamental problem in genetics. Most studies have employed either simple synthetic populations with restricted allelic variation or performed association mapping on a sample of naturally occurring haplotypes. Both of these approaches have some limitations, therefore alternative resources for the genetic dissection of complex traits continue to be sought. Here we describe one such alternative, the Multiparent Advanced Generation Inter-Cross (MAGIC). This approach is expected to improve the precision with which QTL can be mapped, improving the outlook for QTL cloning. Here, we present the first panel of MAGIC lines developed: a set of 527 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) descended from a heterogeneous stock of 19 intermated accessions of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. These lines and the 19 founders were genotyped with 1,260 single nucleotide polymorphisms and phenotyped for development-related traits. Analytical methods were developed to fine-map quantitative trait loci (QTL) in the MAGIC lines by reconstructing the genome of each line as a mosaic of the founders. We show by simulation that QTL explaining 10% of the phenotypic variance will be detected in most situations with an average mapping error of about 300 kb, and that if the number of lines were doubled the mapping error would be under 200 kb. We also show how the power to detect a QTL and the mapping accuracy vary, depending on QTL location. We demonstrate the utility of this new mapping population by mapping several known QTL with high precision and by finding novel QTL for germination data and bolting time. Our results provide strong support for similar ongoing efforts to produce MAGIC lines in other organisms.     

Benzopyran sulfonamides as KV1.5 potassium channel blockers

K(V)1.5 blockers have the potential to be atrium-selective agents for treatment of atrial fibrillation. The benzopyrans provide a template for the synthesis of potent and selective K(V)1.5 blockers.     

Effects of parasitic castration on plant resource allocation

It has been proposed that host castration is a parasite strategy to reallocate host resources from reproductive to vegetative functions to increase parasite fitness. Since resource partitioning between reproduction and vegetative growth can affect host life-history traits, parasite effects on resource allocation can affect both plant fitness and host-parasite coevolution. Field and greenhouse experiments were used to investigate the effects of host castration by the fungus Atkinsonella hypoxylon on the resource allocation and architecture of the grass Danthonia spicata. The results indicate that non-infected D. spicata can reallocate resources from reproduction to vegetative growth when resource allocation to reproduction is prevented. However, I found no evidence that fungal castration causes reallocation of resources from host reproduction to vegetative growth. Instead, infection reduces host biomass and the fungus directly utilizes resources that would have been used for host reproduction for its own reproduction. Received: 25 March 1999 / Accepted: 24 October 1999     

Dihydropyrazolopyrimidines containing benzimidazoles as KV1.5 potassium channel antagonists

Dihydropyrazolopyrimidines with a C6 heterocycle substituent were found to have high potency for block of K_V1.5. Investigation of the substitution in the benzimidazole ring and the substituent in the 5-position of the dihydropyrazolopyrimidine ring produced 31a with an IC₅₀ for K_V1.5 block of 0.030 μM without significant block of other cardiac ion channels. This compound also showed good bioavailability in rats and robust pharmacodynamic effects in a rabbit model.     

Functional genetics of intraspecific ecological interactions in Arabidopsis thaliana

Studying the genetic basis of traits involved in ecological interactions is a fundamental part of elucidating the connections between evolutionary and ecological processes. Such knowledge allows one to link genetic models of trait evolution with ecological models describing interactions within and between species. Previous work has shown that connections between genetic and ecological processes in Arabidopsis thaliana may be mediated by the fact that quantitative trait loci (QTL) with 'direct' effects on traits of individuals also have pleiotropic 'indirect' effects on traits expressed in neighbouring plants. Here, we further explore these connections by examining functional relationships between traits affected directly and indirectly by the same QTL. We develop a novel approach using structural equation models (SEMs) to determine whether observed pleiotropic effects result from traits directly affected by the QTL in focal individuals causing the changes in the neighbours' phenotypes. This hypothesis was assessed using SEMs to test whether focal plant phenotypes appear to mediate the connection between the focal plants' genotypes and the phenotypes of their neighbours, or alternatively, whether the connection between the focal plants' genotypes and the neighbours' phenotypes is mediated by unmeasured traits. We implement this analysis using a QTL of major effect that maps to the well-characterized flowering locus, FRIGIDA. The SEMs support the hypothesis that the pleiotropic indirect effects of this locus arise from size and developmental timing-related traits in focal plants affecting the expression of developmental traits in their neighbours. Our findings provide empirical insights into the genetics and nature of intraspecific ecological interactions. Our technique holds promise in directing future work into the genetic basis and functional relationship of traits mediating and responding to ecological interactions.     

Climate envelope modelling reveals intraspecific relationships among flowering phenology, niche breadth and potential range size in Arabidopsis thaliana

Species often harbour large amounts of phenotypic variation in ecologically important traits, and some of this variation is genetically based. Understanding how this genetic variation is spatially structured can help to understand species' ecological tolerances and range limits. We modelled the climate envelopes of Arabidopsis thaliana genotypes, ranging from early- to late-flowering, as a function of several climatic variables. We found that genotypes with contrasting alleles at individual flowering time loci differed significantly in potential range size and niche breadth. We also found that later flowering genotypes had more restricted range potentials and narrower niche breadths than earlier flowering genotypes, indicating that local selection on flowering can constrain or enhance the ability of populations to colonise other areas. Our study demonstrates how climate envelope models that incorporate ecologically important genetic variation can provide insights into the macroecology of a species, which is important to understand its responses to changing environments.