Soil environment is a key driver of adaptation in Medicago truncatula: new insights from landscape genomics

What is it about?

Populations of living organisms adapt to different environmental conditions across their distribution. By studying associations of the genomes of individuals in these populations and the environment where they come from, one can identify genes that could be responsible for adaptation to particular environmental conditions. Here, we studied genome-environment associations in populations of a Mediterranean legume (Medicago truncatula) and identified genes that are potentially responsible for adaptation to extreme temperatures, drought, high soil salinity, and different levels of atmospheric nitrogen. Because M.truncatula populations are adapted to the current environmental conditions, we propose that climate change and increase in human activities in the future, could disrupt adaptation in this legume

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