Environmental Specific Selection Using Rapid-Cycling Lines of Brassica rapa
Populations in more
heterogeneous environments may experience selection pressures to favor genotypes with a
greater expression of phenotypic plasticity compared to populations in less variable
environments. Selection in heterogeneous environments may also favor a diversity
of specialized genotypes. This research explores the interplay between the
environmental context for selection with genetic architecture which may
facilitate or constrain response to selection, to work toward resolving this
dilemma. Using an experimental evolution approaches with the model systems Brassica rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana in a
phenotypic selection experiment of heterogeneous or uniform environments, we are
determining the role of environmental variation in the genetic architecture of
fitness traits.
