PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dounia Saleh
AU  - Jun Chen
AU  - Jean-Charles Leplé
AU  - Thibault Leroy
AU  - Laura Truffaut
AU  - Benjamin Dencausse
AU  - Céline Lalanne
AU  - Karine Labadie
AU  - Isabelle Lesur
AU  - Didier Bert
AU  - Frédéric Lagane
AU  - François Morneau
AU  - Jean-Marc Aury
AU  - Christophe Plomion
AU  - Martin Lascoux
AU  - Antoine Kremer
TI  - Genome-wide evolutionary response of European oaks since the Little Ice Age
AID  - 10.1101/2021.05.25.445558
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.05.25.445558
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/05/27/2021.05.25.445558.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/05/27/2021.05.25.445558.full
AB  - The pace of tree microevolution during Anthropocene warming is largely unknown. We used a retrospective approach to monitor genomic changes in oak trees since the Little Ice Age (LIA). Allelic frequency changes were assessed from whole-genome pooled sequences for four age-structured cohorts of sessile oak (Quercus petraea) dating back to 1680, in each of three different oak forests in France. The genetic covariances of allelic frequency changes increased between successive time periods, highlighting genome-wide effects of linked selection. We found imprints of convergent linked selection in the three forests during the late LIA, and a shift of selection during more recent time periods. The changes in allelic covariances within and between forests mirrored the documented changes in the occurrence of extreme events (droughts and frosts) over the last three hundred years. The genomic regions with the highest covariances were enriched in genes involved in plant responses to pathogens and abiotic stresses (temperature and drought). These responses are consistent with the reported sequence of frost (or drought) and disease damage ultimately leading to the oak dieback after extreme events. Our results therefore provide evidence of selection operating on long-lived species during recent climatic changes.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.