J Integr Plant Biol.

• Invited Expert Review •    

Genetic variation for adaptive evolution in response to changed environments in plants

Jing Hou1†, Meng Liu1†, Kai Yang1†, Bao Liu1, Huanhuan Liu1* and Jianquan Liu1,2*   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory for Bio‐resources and Eco‐environment & State Key Lab of Hydraulics & Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan Zoige Alpine Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Key Laboratory for Bio‐resource and Eco‐environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
    2. National Key Laboratory for Herbage Innovation and Grassland Ecosystem and College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

    These authors contributed equally to this work.
    *Correspondences: Huanhuan Liu (liuhuanhuan85@163.com); Jianquan Liu (liujq@nwipb.cas.cn, Dr. Liu is fully responsible for the distribution of all materials associated with this article)
  • Received:2024-08-22 Accepted:2025-05-31 Online:2025-07-03
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 32030006 and No. 32270302) and the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (No. 2024NSFSC0340).

Abstract: Plants adapt to their local environments through natural or artificial selection of optimal phenotypes. Recent advances in genomics and computational biology, which integrate phenotypic and multi-omics data, have facilitated the rapid identification of key genes and allelic variations that underlie these adaptive evolutionary processes. Understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms has significantly enhanced our knowledge of how plants respond to changed habitats, including various biotic and abiotic stresses. In this review, we highlight recent progress in elucidating the genetic basis of phenotypic variation in morphological traits and stress responses, as well as the emergence of new ecotypes, subspecies, and species during adaptive evolution across varied environments. This occurs through allelic divergences in both coding and non-coding regions in both model and non-model plants. Furthermore, the terrestrialization and early diversification of land plants involved the acquisition of additional genes, primarily through horizontal gene transfer and whole-genome duplication, which facilitated the development of complex molecular pathways to adapt to increasingly diverse environments. Finally, we discuss emerging trends and prospects for exploring and utilizing beneficial alleles for environmental adaptation, to guide crop breeding efforts in response to global climate change.

Key words: abiotic stress, adaptive evolution, alleles, biotic stress, genetic variations, morphological traits

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