Effects of primary seed dormancy on life-time fitness of Arabidopsis thaliana in the field

Background and Aims Seed dormancy determines the environmental niche of plants in seasonal environments, and has consequences for plant performance that potentially go far beyond the seed and seedling stages. In this study, we examined the cascading effects of seed dormancy on the expression of subsequent life-history traits and fitness in the annual herb Arabidopsis thaliana. Methods We planted seeds of >200 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) derived from a cross between two locally adapted populations (Italy and Sweden), and both parental genotypes at the native site of the Swedish population in three consecutive years. We quantified the relationship between primary seed dormancy and the expression of subsequent life-history traits and fitness in the RIL population with path analysis. To examine effects of differences in dormancy on relative fitness of the two parental genotypes, we planted dormant seeds during the seed dispersal period and non-dormant seeds during the germination pe...研究背景与目的：种子休眠决定了季节性环境中植物的环境生态位，其对植物表现的影响可能远超种子及幼苗阶段。本研究以一年生草本植物拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）为对象，探究种子休眠对后续生活史性状表达及适合度的级联效应。 方法：我们连续三年于瑞典种群的原生生境中，种植了由两个本地适应种群（意大利与瑞典）杂交得到的200余个重组自交系（recombinant inbred line, RIL）的种子，以及两个亲本基因型的种子。我们通过路径分析量化了重组自交系群体中初级种子休眠与后续生活史性状表达及适合度之间的关联。为探究休眠差异对两个亲本基因型相对适合度的影响，我们分别在种子扩散期播种休眠种子，并在萌发期播种非休眠种子……