An ecogenomic approach to adaptation in the spreading exotic plant species Sysimbrium austriacum subsp. chrysantum.

Human activities and globalization have increasingly introduced plant species far outside their native range. Once successfully established, some introduced plant species may become invasive, i.e. they rapidly spread, invade their non-native range and become major threats to biodiversity. Recent studies in crops and native plants convincingly demonstrated that genetic adaptation to novel environments can occur within 20 generations or less, suggesting genetic adaption may precede invasiveness of exotic plants facing novel conditions in the introduced range. Today, the increasing insight in gene functions and great technical advances in sequencing technology are revolutionizing population ecology and evolutionary biology. It is now possible to identify genes under environmental selection at a genome scale and, in relatives of well-studied genetic model plants (e.g. Arabidopsis thalania, Brassicaceae), to readily infer their biological function. Here, we intend an integrated ecological-genomic study of native and introduced Sisymbrium austriacum (Jeweled rocket, Brassicaceae) populations. This plant species is recently spreading downstream the Meuse river where conditions differ from those experienced by native populations in the Pyrenees. To understand the strength and likely genetic nature of adaptation in this spreading exotic species, results from functional genomic diversity screens, field reciprocal transplants and fitness analyses under controlled conditions will be combined.

Keywords:Sisymbrium austriacum, Exotic plant, Invasions, Genome screens, Genetic adaptation

Disciplines:Plant biology