Unifying selection acts on competitive ability and relative growth rate in Scabiosa columbaria |
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| Authors: | JF Scheepens Jürg Stöcklin Andrea R Pluess |
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| Institution: | 1. Section of Plant Ecology, Institute of Botany, University of Basel, Schönbeinstrasse 6, 4056 Basel, Switzerland;2. Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental Sciences, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland;1. Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Univ. Paris-Sud, F-91405 Orsay cedex, France;2. CNRS, Orsay, France;3. AgroParisTech, Orsay, France;4. Genoscope, Centre National de Sequençage, UMR CNRS 8030, 2 Gaston Crémieux, CP 5706, 91507 Evry, France;1. Área de Ecología, Facultade de Bioloxía, Campus Vida, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain;2. Área de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus A Zapateira, Universidad de A Coruña, 15008 A Coruña, Spain;3. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada;1. Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany;2. Department of Experimental and Systems Ecology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany;1. Department of Mathematics, FIN-20014 University of Turku, Finland;2. Evolution and Ecology Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria;1. Department of Biology, College of St. Benedict & St. John''s University, Collegeville, MN 56321, USA;2. Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, 40002, Thailand;3. Conservation Ecology Program, School of Bioresources & Technology, King Mongkut''s University of Technology Thonburi, 49 Soi Tientalay 25, Bangkhuntien-Chaitalay Rd., Thakham, Bangkhuntien, Bangkok 10150, Thailand;4. Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848, USA;5. Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA |
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| Abstract: | QST vs. FST comparisons can reveal diversifying or unifying selection pressures among populations for specific traits. In this study we performed QST–FST analyses on eleven populations of Scabiosa columbaria from the Swiss Jura to reveal genetic differentiation in two quantitative traits (above-ground biomass and relative growth rate of leaf lengths) and in neutral molecular markers. Above-ground biomass of plants under competition has been shown to correlate with their competitive ability, which is an important fitness-related trait. We hypothesized that strong unifying selection acts on above-ground biomass, since underperformance would result in decreased fitness and overperformance is unlikely due to trade-offs with other plant functions.Overall GST (an FST analogue) was 0.12. Analysis of variance revealed that above-ground biomass and relative growth rate did not differ among populations, but both traits differed among seed families and were heritable (h2 = 0.31 and h2 = 0.35, respectively). QST was close to zero for above-ground biomass and zero for relative growth rate of leaf lengths, and thus QST was much lower than GST, indicating unifying selection on these traits.This conclusion is restricted by the limits of the used methodology. QST < FST cannot always be considered as a proof for unifying selection, because in complex traits the assumption of purely additive effects of underlying genes may be violated. However, given the large differences between QST and GST, together with substantial heritabilities of the traits under study, we conclude that our findings are not in contradiction with the hypothesis of unifying selection. |
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