Neutral and adaptive genetic diversity in plants: An overview

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Ecology and Evolution

Jordi López-Pujol¹  Mi Yoon Chung²  Myong Gi Chung³  Juha Merilä⁴  Yoshihiko Tsumura⁵  Jialiang Li⁶  Kangshan Mao⁷ 

[1] Botanic Institute of Barcelona (IBB), CSIC-Ajuntament de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain;Escuela de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad Espíritu Santo (UEES), Samborondón, Ecuador;Department of Biological Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Division of Life Science and the RINS, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea;Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;Area of Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China;Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan;Key Laboratory for Bio-Resources and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China;Key Laboratory for Bio-Resources and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China;Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China;

关键词: adaptive variation;    conservation;    demography;    geneticists;    neutral variation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fevo.2023.1116814

 received in 2022-12-05, accepted in 2023-01-24,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Genetic diversity is a prerequisite for evolutionary change in all kinds of organisms. It is generally acknowledged that populations lacking genetic variation are unable to evolve in response to new environmental conditions (e.g., climate change) and thus may face an increased risk of extinction. Although the importance of incorporating genetic diversity into the design of conservation measures is now well understood, less attention has been paid to the distinction between neutral (NGV) and adaptive (AGV) genetic variation. In this review, we first focus on the utility of NGV by examining the ways to quantify it, reviewing applications of NGV to infer ecological and evolutionary processes, and by exploring its utility in designing conservation measures for plant populations and species. Against this background, we then summarize the ways to identify and estimate AGV and discuss its potential use in plant conservation. After comparing NGV and AGV and considering their pros and cons in a conservation context, we conclude that there is an urgent need for a better understanding of AGV and its role in climate change adaptation. To date, however, there are only a few AGV studies on non-model plant species aimed at deciphering the genetic and genomic basis of complex trait variation. Therefore, conservation researchers and practitioners should keep utilizing NGV to develop relevant strategies for rare and endangered plant species until more estimates of AGV are available.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Chung, Merilä, Li, Mao, López-Pujol, Tsumura and Chung.