@article{LatimerJacobsGianolietal.2019,
  author    = {Latimer, Andrew M. and Jacobs, Brooke S. and Gianoli, Ernesto and Heger, Tina and Salgado-Luarte, Cristian},
  title     = {Parallel functional differentiation of an invasive annual plant on two continents},
  series = {AoB PLANTS},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {AoB PLANTS},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {Oxford University Press},
  address   = {Oxford},
  issn      = {2041-2851},
  doi       = {10.1093/aobpla/plz010},
  pages     = {16},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {Rapid local adaptation frequently occurs during the spread of invading species. It remains unclear, however, how consistent, and therefore potentially predictable, such patterns of local adaptation are. One approach to this question is to measure patterns of local differentiation in functional traits and plasticity levels in invasive species in multiple regions. Finding consistent patterns of local differentiation in replicate regions suggests that these patterns are adaptive. Further, this outcome indicates that the invading species likely responds predictably to selection along environmental gradients, even though standing genetic variation is likely to have been reduced during introduction. We studied local differentiation in the invasive annual plant Erodium cicutarium in two invaded regions, California and Chile. We collected seeds from across strong gradients in precipitation and temperature in Mediterranean-climate parts of the two regions (10 populations per region). We grew seeds from maternal families from these populations through two generations and exposed the second generation to contrasting levels of water and nutrient availability. We measured growth, flowering time and leaf functional traits across these treatments to obtain trait means and plasticity measures. We found strong differentiation among populations in all traits. Plants from drier environments flowered earlier, were less plastic in flowering time and reached greater size in all treatments. Correlations among traits within regions suggested a coordinated evolutionary response along environmental gradients associated with growing season length. There was little divergence in traits and trait intercorrelations between regions, but strongly parallel divergence in traits within regions. Similar, statistically consistent patterns of local trait differentiation across two regions suggest that local adaptation to environmental gradients has aided the spread of this invasive species, and that the formation of ecotypes in newly invaded environments has been relatively consistent and predictable.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{CzesnickLenhard2016,
  author    = {Czesnick, Hj{\"o}rdis and Lenhard, Michael},
  title     = {Antagonistic control of flowering time by functionally specialized poly(A) polymerases in Arabidopsis thaliana},
  series = {The plant journal},
  volume    = {88},
  journal   = {The plant journal},
  publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {0960-7412},
  doi       = {10.1111/tpj.13280},
  pages     = {570 -- 583},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Polyadenylation is a critical 3-end processing step during maturation of pre-mRNAs, and the length of the poly(A) tail affects mRNA stability, nuclear export and translation efficiency. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome encodes three canonical nuclear poly(A) polymerase (PAPS) isoforms fulfilling specialized functions, as reflected by their different mutant phenotypes. While PAPS1 affects several processes, such as the immune response, organ growth and male gametophyte development, the roles of PAPS2 and PAPS4 are largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that PAPS2 and PAPS4 promote flowering in a partially redundant manner. The enzymes act antagonistically to PAPS1, which delays the transition to flowering. The opposite flowering-time phenotypes in paps1 and paps2 paps4 mutants are at least partly due to decreased or increased FLC activity, respectively. In contrast to paps2 paps4 mutants, plants with increased PAPS4 activity flower earlier than the wild-type, concomitant with reduced FLC expression. Double mutant analyses suggest that PAPS2 and PAPS4 act independently of the autonomous pathway components FCA, FY and CstF64. The direct polyadenylation targets of the three PAPS isoforms that mediate their effects on flowering time do not include FLC sense mRNA and remain to be identified. Thus, our results uncover a role for canonical PAPS isoforms in flowering-time control, raising the possibility that modulating the balance of the isoform activities could be used to fine tune the transition to flowering. Significance Statement The length of the poly(A) tail affects mRNA stability, nuclear export and translation efficiency. Arabidopsis has three isoforms of nuclear poly(A) polymerase (PAPS): PAPS1 plays a major role in organ growth and plant defence. Here we show that PAPS2 and PAPS4 redundantly promote flowering and act antagonistically to PAPS1, which delays flowering. We suggest that modulating the activity of these isoforms fine-tunes the transition to flowering.},
  language  = {en}
}