Jacob Wheeler

Bio 1615
Research Journal Summary

The study looked at thirteen different species of a diverse wild tomato.

There is a lot of confusion from which or what factors are deciding the
presence of the different species in different places. The wild tomato plant
that was being studied is directly from the Solanum Lycopersicon clade.
Introgression after Speciation Varies Widely among Lineages
(Pease, 2016).
Breaking down the title of this section, it explains that in the process of
evolution or speciation, there is the transferring of genetic information from
one species to another. The result of this crossing of genetic information is
the creation of new species as it says by creating hybrids of the originals
species.
There were a lot of studies performed, but some couldnt be used
because they werent occurring in nature, and this study was specifically to
see how the introgression occurred naturally. In the wild tomatoes that
occurred naturally, introgression seemed to commonly be found as
happening a long time ago, as to not being present in the more current
studies. There were a few cases, that did show introgression, in the more
recent studied sections, but this was a minimal representation of the data.
De Novo Evolution of Lineage-Specific Ecological Traits (Pease,
2016)
The title refers to evolution in the beginning and the representation of
specific traits in certain lineages, which are specific to only that group. There
was a lot of time spent on the findings of the loci that gave the fruit a red
color. It was found to be an evolutionary trait that occurred early on and
stuck with the group of wild tomatoes being studied.

Environmental Selection Has Drawn from Ancestral Variation

(Pease, 2016)
So not only was the study looking at the specific ancestry of the
evolution, but also how the environment has affected the growth of these
tomatoes. They did not necessarily have to have the same genetic makeup

to flourish in a similar environment, but the study showed the traits that
were present with these studied groups of tomatoes.
There were a few factors that the study was looking for in the groups:
altitude/temperature, a composite measure of seasonal climate variability,
water pH, and soil heavy metal content Overall, we found 12
nonsynonymous variants (in 12 loci) associated with our second
environmental factor (seasonal climate variation), 44 nonsynonymous
variants (in 43 loci) associated with our third factor (soil pH), and 455
nonsynonymous variants (in 401 loci) associated with our fourth factor
(variation in heavy metals). (Pease, 2016). The study showed that there was
a lot of variance still in these groups, not only because of the ancestral lines,
but also in the environments that they were studied in.
This study showed a lot of things, but mainly it showed that there are a
lot of variations as to why a plant is still alive today. The study applied
natural selection from Darwin; meaning that if the plant isnt adequately
equipped for an environment, it wont be there. The study also showed that it
isnt necessarily one type of plant that grows in each environment because
there are a lot of different factors that go into a plant being in a certain
place. It could have something to do with the pH in the soil, or the climate, or
anything. There are different branches of the lines of plants that all can be in
the same place, even though they dont have the same genetic makeup.

Works Cited
Pease, James B., David C. Haak, Matthew W. Hahn, and Leonie C. Moyle.
"Phylogenomics Reveals Three Sources of Adaptive Variation during a
Rapid Radiation." PLOS Biology PLoS Biol 14.2 (2016): n. pag. Web.