DOI: 10.5061/dryad.p732k
title: Data from: Timing of shoot development transitions affects degree of perenniality in Arabidopsis lyrata (Brassicaceae)

description: Background: Perenniality is best understood in quantitative terms,
 involving the relationship between production vs. turnover of meristems,
 biomass, or energy reserves. Previous quantitative trait locus (QTL)
 studies using divergent populations of the perennial rock cress
 Arabidopsis lyrata have shown that trade-offs in vegetative growth vs.
 reproduction are due to cascading effects of differences in early
 vegetative development, which contribute to local adaptation. However,
 details of the developmental differences and how they affect perenniality
 remained unclear. In this study, we investigated in detail the
 developmental differences in perenniality between populations. A. lyrata
 from Norway and North Carolina populations, representing contrasting
 environments and degrees of perenniality, were grown under controlled
 conditions, and data were collected on plant phenology and shoot-level
 development. We tested hypotheses that differences in perenniality involve
 strict allocation of lateral meristems to vegetative vs. reproductive
 fates, or alternatively quantitative effects of pre-reproductive
 vegetative development. Results: The two populations showed large
 differences in the degree of vegetative development on individual shoots
 prior to reproductive transitions. The number of leaves produced on shoots
 prior to bolting, and not strict meristem allocation or variation in
 apical dominance, was able to explain variation in the number of
 inflorescences on individual plants. These results suggested that
 allocation of time to shoot vegetative vs. reproductive development could
 be a major factor in resource allocation differences between the
 populations. Conclusions: Based on these results and those of previous QTL
 studies, we propose a model in which the degree of shoot vegetative
 development shapes the developmental context for reproduction and
 subsequent vegetative growth in different environments. Climate-specific
 effects of shoot development patterns on reproductive output and survival
 may result in divergent evolutionary trajectories along a perenniality
 continuum, which may have broader relevance for plant life history
 evolution.
description: AlyMorphPrePlant1014This comma-delimited file contains data for all plants initially established in the growth chamber study, including survival and dates of lateral shoot development, bolting and flowering. These data are the basis for the analyses in Table 3 of the Remington et al. BMC Plant Biology manuscript.AlyMorphPostPlant1113This comma-delimited file contains data recorded by plant on all plants for which detailed morphological analyses were conducted. Many of the fields are the same or similar to those in AlyMorphPrePlant1014.csv. Data from this file were used in the analyses in Table 3, Table 4, and Figure 5 of the Remington et al. BMC Plant Biology manuscript.AlyMorphPostInfl1113This comma-delimited file contains data collected on each inflorescence-bearing shoot, for plants on which detailed morphological analyses were conducted. These data are summarized in Figure 4 of the Remington et al. BMC Plant Biology manuscript. Mean values of the traits Leaf and LeafSize by plant are incorporated into the analyses in Table 3, Table 4, and Figure 5.