BACKGROUND: In light of the changes in precipitation and soil water availability expected with climate change,
understanding the mechanisms underlying plant responses to water deficit is essential. Toward that end we have
conducted an integrative analysis of responses to drought stress in the perennial C₄ grass and biofuel crop,
Panicum...
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Aspinwall2,3, David B Lowry2, Juan Diego Palacio-Mejía2, Tierney L Logan2, Philip A Fay4
and Thomas E Juenger2
Background: The identification of the loci and specific alleles underlying variation in quantitative traits is an important goal for evolutionary biologists and breeders. Despite major advancements in genomics technology, moving from QTL to causal alleles remains a major challenge in genetics research. Near-isogenic lines are the ideal raw material for...
The process of plant speciation often involves the evolution of divergent ecotypes in
response to differences in soil water availability between habitats. While the same set of traits
is frequently associated with xeric/mesic ecotype divergence, it is unknown whether those
traits evolve independently or if they evolve in tandem as...