Evolution of flowering time in a selfing annual plant: Roles of adaptation and genetic drift

International audienceResurrection studies are a useful tool to measure how phenotypic traits have changed in populations and they allow testing whether these traits modifications are a response to selection caused by an environmental change. Selfing, through its reduction of effective size, could challenge the ability of a population to adapt to environmental changes. Here, we used a resurrection study to test for adaptation in a selfing population of Medicago truncatula , by comparing the genetic composition and flowering across 22 generations. We found evidence for evolution towards earlier flowering times by about two days and a peculiar genetic structure, typical for highly selfing population, where some multilocus genotypes (MLGs) are persistent through time. We used the change in frequency of the MLGs through time as a multilocus fitness measure and built a selection gradient that suggests evolution towards earlier flowering times. Yet, a simulation model revealed that the observed change in flowering time could be explained by drift alone, provided the effective size of the population is small enough (