Data from: Life-history QTLs and natural selection on flowering time in Boechera stricta, a perennial relative of Arabidopsis

Plants must precisely time flowering to capitalize on favorable
conditions. Although we know a great deal about the genetic basis of
flowering phenology in model species under controlled conditions, the
genetic architecture of this ecologically-important trait is poorly
understood in non-model organisms. Here, we evaluated the transition from
vegetative growth to flowering in Boechera stricta, a perennial relative
of Arabidopsis thaliana. We examined flowering time QTLs using 7,920
recombinant inbred individuals, across seven lab and field environments
differing in vernalization, temperature, and photoperiod. Genetic and
environmental factors strongly influenced the transition to reproduction.
We found directional selection for earlier flowering in the field. In the
growth chamber experiment, longer winters accelerated flowering, whereas
elevated ambient temperatures delayed flowering. Our analyses identified
one large effect QTL (nFT), which influenced flowering time in both
experiments and the probability of flowering in the field. In Montana,
homozygotes for the native allele at nFT showed a selective advantage of
6.6%. Nevertheless, we found relatively low correlations between flowering
times in the field and the growth chambers. Additionally, we detected
flowering-related QTLs in the field which were absent across the full
range of laboratory conditions, thus emphasizing the need to conduct
experiments in natural environments.