Arabis alpina: A perennial model plant for ecological genomics and life‐history evolution

Many model organisms were chosen and achieved prominence because of an advantageous combination of their life‐history characteristics, genetic properties and also practical considerations. Discoveries made in Arabidopsis thaliana, the most renowned noncrop plant model species, have markedly stimulat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology resources 2022-02, Vol.22 (2), p.468-486
Main Authors: Wötzel, Stefan, Andrello, Marco, Albani, Maria C., Koch, Marcus A., Coupland, George, Gugerli, Felix
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arabidopsis
Arabidopsis thaliana
Arabis - genetics
Arabis alpina
arctic–alpine environment
Biological evolution
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae - genetics
Evolutionary genetics
Genomics
Harsh environments
Humans
Invited Technical Review
Life history
local adaptation
perennial
Polar environments
Reproduction
Reviews
selfing
Species
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Summary:Many model organisms were chosen and achieved prominence because of an advantageous combination of their life‐history characteristics, genetic properties and also practical considerations. Discoveries made in Arabidopsis thaliana, the most renowned noncrop plant model species, have markedly stimulated studies in other species with different biology. Within the family Brassicaceae, the arctic–alpine Arabis alpina has become a model complementary to Arabidopsis thaliana to study the evolution of life‐history traits, such as perenniality, and ecological genomics in harsh environments. In this review, we provide an overview of the properties that facilitated the rapid emergence of A. alpina as a plant model. We summarize the evolutionary history of A. alpina, including genomic aspects, the diversification of its mating system and demographic properties, and we discuss recent progress in the molecular dissection of developmental traits that are related to its perennial life history and environmental adaptation. From this published knowledge, we derive open questions that might inspire future research in A. alpina, other Brassicaceae species or more distantly related plant families.
ISSN:1755-098X
1755-0998
DOI:10.1111/1755-0998.13490