Testing for convergent molecular evolution in Arctic Brassicaceae

The Arctic is one of the most hostile environments on Earth, and the few plant species inhabiting this region typically possess suites of similar morphological and physiological adaptations to extremes in light and temperature. In this project we identified candidate genes for Arctic adaptation and compared patterns of molecular evolution in three Brassicaceae species that have independently colonized the Arctic. We were particularly interested to see if adaptation had followed repeatable patterns at the genetic level.