Landscape genomics of Populus trichocarpa: the role of hybridization, limited gene flow and natural selection in shaping patterns of population structure

Populus trichocarpa is an ecologically important tree across western North America. We used a large population sample of 498 accessions over a wide geographical area genotyped with a 34K Populus SNP array to quantify geographical patterns of genetic variation in this species (landscape genomics). We present evidence that three processes contribute to the observed patterns: (1) introgression from the sister species P. balsamifera (2) isolation-by-distance and (3) natural selection. Introgression was detected only at the margins of the species’ distribution. Isolation-by-distance was significant across the sampled area as a whole, but no evidence of restricted gene flow was detected in a core of drainages from southern British Columbia. We identified a large number of FST outliers. GO analyses revealed that FST outliers are overrepresented in genes involved in circadian rhythm and response to red/far-red light when the entire dataset is considered, while in southern British Columbia heat ...