Data from: Adaptations between ecotypes and along environmental gradients in Panicum virgatum

Determining the patterns and mechanisms of natural selection in the wild
is of fundamental importance to understanding the differentiation of
populations and the evolution of new species. However, it is often unknown
the extent to which adaptive genetic variation is distributed among
ecotypes between distinct habitats versus along large-scale geographic
environmental gradients, such as those that track latitude. Classic
selection in the wild experiments in switchgrass, Panicum virgatum, tested
for adaptation at both of these levels of natural variation. Here we
review what these field experiments, as well as modern agronomic field
trials, have taught us about natural variation and selection at both the
ecotype and environmental gradient level in P. virgatum. With the recent
genome sequencing efforts of P. virgatum, it is poised to become an
excellent system for understanding the adaptation of grassland species
across the eastern half of North America. The identification of genetic
loci involved in different types of adaptations will help to understand
the evolutionary mechanisms of diversification within P. virgatum and
provide useful information for the breeding of high yielding cultivars for
different ecoregions.