Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Biology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-63). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR31999

The Arabidopsis arenosa species complex is closely related to the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. Distribution range of the diploid lineage covers most parts of Central and South-eastern Europe with a remarkable diversity of ecological niches from sea level to alpine peaks. There is still little known about genetic relationships among the diploid populations of A. arenosa. The evolutionary history of the diploid cytotype across its entire range was explored by using 14 nuclear microsatellite loci. Five lineages occupying biogeographically distinct regions were identified in Arabidopsis arenosa complex. These lineages were labelled as Western Carpathians, Eastern Carpathians, Pannonian Lowland, Dinaric Alps and Baltic Shore (according to geographical regions where these lineages occur). Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The relationship between leaf and its environment has resulted in a tremendous diversification of leaf shape within and between plants species, which is important to cope with the differing environmental conditions. Arabidopsis lyrata is a prime model plant that shows leaf shape variation within species and between related species. In Cardamine and Capsella, the RCO genes (homeodomain leucine zipper family transcription factors) are involved in shaping leaves, yielding more complex shaped leaves (leaflets). In A. thaliana, over the course of evolution, the RCO-A and RCO-B paralogous genes have been deleted that led to the loss of lobes (leaf simplification). Based on previous quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping results, these gene family members are thought to control leaf shape variation also in A. lyrata. Since the paralog involved in leaf shape variation is unknown, both copies of the RCO genes (AL6G13350 and AL6G13360) were sequenced. The study aimed to identify whether DNA sequence variation exists in the two paralogous RCO genes, which could explain the phenotype variation both within population and between A. lyrata populations, along with related species A. arenosa. The results showed limited variation in the coding regions in the form of indels, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and amino acid substitutions resulting in no significant difference in phenotype between genotype (p>0.139). The most variants were rare and increasing the number of individuals within the populations, to cover the full phenotypic spectrum, may lead to different results. Not being able to obtain the nucleotide sequence of the promotor region, further analysis is required since it is an important region for gene expression, which could explain phenotype variation for leaf shape in Arabidopsis lyrata.

Arabidopsis arenosa represents a promising model for studying the mechanisms underlying the adaptation to serpentine soil. Genetic basis of serpentine adaptation is still poorly known and A. arenosa possesses many advantages as a tool to complete that knowledge. The first step of this study was to reveal the presence of a local adaptation to serpentine soil in a population of A. arenosa. To do so, I used the data from a reciprocal transplant experiment realized between a Czech pair of serpentine - non-serpentine populations and I explored the phenotypes associated with the adaptation. Subsequently, I produced the F2 hybrids coming from crosses between serpentine - non-serpentine parents and I studied the expression of fitness traits in F2 plants growing in serpentine in order to estimate the number of loci underlying the adaptation which I compared with other studies. I confirmed the presence of a local adaptation, with the population of serpentine origin performing better than the non-serpentine population in the serpentine substrate of origin, associated with accumulation of heavy metals in the leaves. Analyses of the soil composition revealed differences in heavy metals and nutrients contents, Ca/Mg ratio and pH between the two localities. Those results fitted with the function of the candidate...

Plants adjust to challenging environments by genetically fixed changes and phenotypically plastic response. Alpine environments pose multiple challenges to plant life including cold, high irradiance and short vegetative period. To survive such specific conditions, plants often significantly alter their morphology. In my thesis I studied to which extent specific traits of alpine ecotypes repeatedly appear among independently formed alpine populations and to which extent these changes represent fixed genotypic differentiation vs phenotypic plasticity. To address these questions I performed an experiment in which Arabidopsis arenosa plants from sixteen populations belonging to two ecotypes (alpine and foothill) were grown in conditions resembling alpine vs foothill conditions. Specifically, I modified levels of irradiance and temperature and complemented alpine-like and foothill-like treatment by additional two extreme treatments to reach full-factorial design. I used discriminant and classificatory analysis to examine the overall morphological differentiation characterised by set of twenty measured traits. Then I examined variation in each trait by statistical Bayesian model that I designed for this purpose. I found out that although ecotypes are predominantly differentiated by fixed morphological...

Meiosis is functionally conserved across eukaryotes, thus not expected to vary considerably among different species, and even less so among lineages within a species. However, recent studies showed that this is not necessarily the case in Arabidopsis arenosa. Genome scanning identified an excess differentiation in meiosis genes between A. arenosa diploids and tetraploids, interpreted as meiosis adaptation to the whole genome duplication in tetraploids and differentiation was also found between two diploid lineages. Thus, I present a population-based analysis of positive selection acting on meiosis proteins across multiple lineages of A. arenosa. I showed that meiosis proteins were under positive selection in all diploid lineages, mainly in the Pannonian and South-eastern Carpathian lineage. The evidence for positive selection in diploid lineages suggested differential pathways of meiosis adaptations in the species, probably reflecting the necessity to adapt to local environments, among all to temperature. The highest enrichment of amino acid substitutions (AASs) under positive selection was identified in tetraploids, in consistence with previous genome-scan results. As several interacting meiosis proteins were under positive selection in the same A. arenosa lineage, I hypothesize that the close...

Anther dehiscence is an important process taking place at the end of the plant life cycle. This process consists of various follow-up steps which result in anther opening and pollen grains exposure. Good timing of the anther dehiscence must be synchronized with pollen grains maturation and flower opening. Atmospheric precipitation is a high-risk factor for the anther dehiscence. Male fitness of plants can be reduced when anthers open during poor weather conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of atmospheric precipitation, rain and dew, on Arabidopsis arenosa anther dehiscence. We observed that rain and dew led to a postponed final stage of the anther dehiscence. This caused delayed pollen release. The effect of aqueous and nonaqueous environment on the anther dehiscence was also tested. Experiments with transformation of A. arenosa using Agrobacterium tumefaciens were performed. Key words: anther dehiscence, flower opening, rain, dew, Arabidopsis arenosa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, transformation

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