ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 3314
Session = 4.13.6


EVOLUTION OF SHADE AVOIDANCE RESPONSES


Johanna Schmitt, Brown University


Photomorphogenic responses to crowding and vegetation shade are an ideal system for investigating the adaptive evolution of phenotypic plasticity because the ecological context is clear, the environmental cues are easily manipulated, and the underlying developmental pathways are well studied. The adaptive value of shade avoidance responses can be elucidated through ecological, physiological and genetic manipulations. For example, plasticity to shade can be altered by manipulation of the light quality cue or by genetic modification of specific photomorphogenic loci through mutation or introduction of transgenes, and the impact on fitness measured in relevant environments. Quantitative genetic variation for shade avoidance responses exists both within and between natural plant populations. The next challenge is to identify the specific loci underlying this variation and to understand how selection acts on these loci in the wild.


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