Population genomics of Populus trichocarpa identifies signatures of selection and adaptive trait associations

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Nature Genetics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3075· OSTI ID:1154870

Evans, Luke M ^[1]; Slavov, Gancho ^[1]; Rodgers-Melnick, Eli ^[1]; Martin, Joel ^[2]; Ranjan, Priya ^[3]; Muchero, Wellington ^[3]; Brunner, Amy M. ^[4]; Schackwitz, Wendy ^[2]; Gunter, Lee E ^[3]; Chen, Jay ^[3]; Tuskan, Gerald A ^[3]; Difazio, Stephen P. ^[1]

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1. West Virginia University, Morgantown
2. U.S. Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute
3. ORNL
4. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Forest trees are dominant components of terrestrial ecosystems that have global ecological and economic importance. Despite distributions that span wide environmental gradients, many tree populations are locally adapted, and mechanisms underlying this adaptation are poorly understood. Here we use a combination of whole-genome selection scans and association analyses of 544 Populus trichocarpa trees to reveal genomic bases of adaptive variation across a wide latitudinal range. Three hundred ninety-seven genomic regions showed evidence of recent positive and/or divergent selection and enrichment for associations with adaptive traits that also displayed patterns consistent with natural selection. These regions also provide unexpected insights into the evolutionary dynamics of duplicated genes and their roles in adaptive trait variation.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). BioEnergy Science Center (BESC)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1154870
• Journal Information: Nature Genetics, Journal Name: Nature Genetics
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English