Data from: Complex genetic effects on early vegetative development shape resource allocation differences between Arabidopsis lyrata populations

Costs of reproduction due to resource allocation trade-offs have long been
recognized as key forces in life history evolution, but little is known
about their functional or genetic basis. Arabidopsis lyrata, a perennial
relative of the annual model plant A. thaliana with a wide climatic
distribution, has populations that are strongly diverged in resource
allocation. In this study, we evaluated the genetic and functional basis
for variation in resource allocation in a reciprocal transplant
experiment, using four A. lyrata populations and F2 progeny from a cross
between North Carolina (USA) and Norway parents, which had the most
divergent resource allocation patterns. Local alleles at quantitative
trait loci (QTL) at a North Carolina field site increased reproductive
output while reducing vegetative growth. These QTL had little overlap with
flowering date QTL. Structural equation models incorporating QTL genotypes
and traits indicated that resource allocation differences result primarily
from QTL effects on early vegetative growth patterns, with cascading
effects on later vegetative and reproductive development. At a Norway
field site, North Carolina alleles at some of the same QTL regions reduced
survival and reproductive output components, but these effects were not
associated with resource allocation trade-offs in the Norway environment.
Our results indicate that resource allocation in perennial plants may
involve important adaptive mechanisms largely independent of flowering
time. Moreover, the contributions of resource allocation QTL to local
adaptation appear to result from their effects on developmental timing and
its interaction with environmental constraints, and not from simple models
of reproductive costs.