title: Life history variation in the heavy metal tolerant plant Thlaspi caerulescens growing in a network of contaminated and noncontaminated sites in southern France: role of gene flow, selection and phenotypic plasticity.
abstract: * Here we explore life history differences in a set of neighbouring metallicolous and nonmetallicolous populations of the heavy metal tolerant plant Thlaspi caerulescens. * We contrasted data from field observations and from a common garden experiment, in which soil zinc (Zn) concentration and light availability were manipulated, and data on microsatellite molecular variation. * The two ecotypes showed few differences in life history in the field, but large differences in their response to Zn concentration in the common garden. Soil toxicity affected most characters in nonmetallicolous plants, while it had no effect on metallicolous plants. The two ecotypes responded similarly to light. Genetic differentiation for quantitative characters between ecotypes contrasted with the absence of differentiation for microsatellites. Conversely, populations of the same ecotype showed similar responses to Zn, despite their high differentiation for molecular markers. * We conclude that divergent selection related to soil toxicity has had a predominant role in shaping life history differences between ecotypes, gene flow weakly opposing local adaptation despite geographical proximity.
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, UMR-CNRS 5554, Equipe Génétique et Environnement, CC65, Place Eugène Bataillon, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Ambriz
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bourrié
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: Ophélie
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ronce
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D005602:France; D051456:Gene Flow; D008027:Light; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010641:Phenotype; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D031227:Thlaspi / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D015032:Zinc / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants; D015032:Zinc