MYB59 is linked to natural variation of water use associated with warmer temperatures in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Ferguson, J. N., Brendel, O., Bechtold, U.
Category: Plant Biology
Model Organism: Arabidopsis thaliana
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The study surveyed vegetative water use and life‑history traits across Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes in both controlled and outdoor environments to assess how climatic history shapes water‑use strategies. Trait‑climate correlations and genome‑wide association analyses uncovered that ecotypes from warmer regions exhibit higher water use, and identified MYB59 as a key gene whose temperature‑linked alleles affect water consumption, a finding validated using myb59 mutants. These results indicate that temperature‑driven adaptive differentiation partly explains intraspecific water‑use variation.