Karrenberg Sophie, Widmer Alex
ETH Zurich, Institute of Integrative Biology, Plant Ecological Genetics, Universitaetstr. 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2008 Apr;11(2):156-62. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2008.01.004. Epub 2008 Mar 10.
Ecologically relevant genetic variation occurs in genes harbouring alleles that are adaptive in some environments but not in others. Analysis of this type of genetic variation in model organisms has made substantial progress, and is now being expanded to other species in order to better cover the diversity of plant life. Recent advances in connecting ecological and molecular studies in non-model species have been made with regard to edaphic and climatic adaptation, plant reproduction, life-history parameters and biotic interactions. New research avenues that increase biological complexity and ecological relevance by integrating ecological experiments with population genetic and functional genomic approaches provide new insights into the genetic basis of ecologically relevant variation.
具有生态相关性的遗传变异存在于携带等位基因的基因中，这些等位基因在某些环境中具有适应性，但在其他环境中则不然。对模式生物中这类遗传变异的分析已取得重大进展，目前正扩展到其他物种，以便更好地涵盖植物生命的多样性。在非模式物种中，关于土壤和气候适应性、植物繁殖、生活史参数以及生物相互作用的生态与分子研究的联系方面，已有了最新进展。通过将生态实验与群体遗传学和功能基因组学方法相结合来增加生物复杂性和生态相关性的新研究途径，为具有生态相关性变异的遗传基础提供了新见解。
