Mating system and environmental variation drive patterns of adaptation in Boechera spatifolia (Brassicaceae)

Determining the relative contribution of population genetic processes to the distribution of natural variation is a major goal of evolutionary biology. Here, we take advantage of variation in mating system to test the hypothesis that local adaptation is constrained by asexual reproduction. We explored patterns of variation in ecological traits and genome-wide molecular markers in Boechera spatifolia (Brassicaceae), a species that contains both apomictic (asexual) and sexual individuals. Using a combination of quantitative genetics, neutral genetic (SSR) and genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism, we assessed the hypothesis that asexual lineages should have reduced signatures of adaptation relative to sexual conspecifics. All three measures (traits, SSRs, SNPs) demonstrated that apomicts are genetically distinct from sexuals, regardless of population location. Additionally, phylogenetic clustering revealed that the apomictic group shared a single common ancestor. Across the landscape, sexual genome-wide SNP variation was strongly associated with latitude (r(2) > 0.9), indicating that sexual populations have differentiated across an environmental gradient. Furthermore, flowering time and growth rate, as assessed in a common garden, strongly covary with the elevation and latitude of the source population. Despite a wide geographic distribution that largely overlaps with sexual populations, there was little evidence for differentiation in molecular markers or quantitative characters among apomictic populations. Combined, these data indicated that, in contrast to asexual populations, sexual populations show evidence of local adaptation.