Ecological and evolutionary genetics of Arabidopsis

The crucifer Arabidopsis thaliana has been the subject of intense research into molecular and developmental genetics. One of the consequences of havin g this wealth of physiological and molecular data available, is that ecolog ists and evolutionary biologists have begun to incorporate this model syste m into their studies. Current research on A. thaliana and its close relativ es ably illustrates the potential for synergy between mechanistic and organ ismal biology. On the one hand, mechanistically oriented research can be pl aced in an historical context, which takes into account the particular phyl ogenetic history and ecology of these species. This helps us to make sense of redundancies, anomalies and sub-optimalities that would otherwise be dif ficult to interpret. On the other hand, ecologists and evolutionary biologi sts now have the opportunity to investigate the physiological and molecular basis for the phenotypic changes they observe. This provides new insight i nto the mechanisms that influence evolutionary change.