PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tal Dahan-Meir
AU  - Thomas James Ellis
AU  - Fabrizio Mafessoni
AU  - Hanan Sela
AU  - Jacob Manisterski
AU  - Naomi Avivi-Ragolsky
AU  - Amir Raz
AU  - Moshe Feldman
AU  - Yehoshua Anikster
AU  - Magnus Nordborg
AU  - Avraham A. Levy
TI  - The genetic structure of a wild wheat population has remained associated with microhabitats over 36 years
AID  - 10.1101/2022.01.10.475641
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2022.01.10.475641
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/11/2022.01.10.475641.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/11/2022.01.10.475641.full
AB  - Wild progenitors of major crops can help us understand domestication, and may also provide the genetic resources needed for ensuring food security in the face of climate change. We examined the genetic structure of a wild emmer wheat population, sampled over 36 years while both temperature and CO2 concentration increased significantly. The genotypes of 832 individuals revealed high genetic diversity over scales of tens of meters and were clustered spatially into ecological microhabitats. This pattern was remarkably stable over time. Simulations indicate that neutral processes alone are unlikely to fully explain the spatial and temporal stability of the population. These results are consistent with a role for local adaptation in shaping the fine-scale structure of plant populations, which is relevant for in-situ conservation strategies of biodiversity in nature.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.