Persistent seed banking as eco-evolutionary determinant of plant nucleotide diversity: novel population genetics insights

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22 Scopus citations

Abstract

(Table presented.). Summary: Long-term persistent seed banking is a common temporal bet-hedging strategy in plants to adapt to unpredictable environments. The population genomics perspective developed in this article suggests that seed banking determines plant nucleotide diversity by decreasing the rate of genetic drift and the effect of linked selection while increasing mutational input. As a result, persistent seed banks are important factors determining the magnitude of the discrepancy between the census size of the above-ground plant population and its genetic diversity, an effect known as the Lewontin paradox. The theoretical population genetics predictions presented here can be tested by combining genome-wide polymorphism data with ecological studies of dormancy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)725-730
Number of pages6
JournalNew Phytologist
Volume221
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2019

Keywords

  • Lewontin paradox
  • dormancy
  • natural selection
  • plant adaptation
  • population genetics
  • recombination

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