Genetic and Environmental Variation of Native and Non-Native Populations of a Compilo Species: The Brachypodium distachyon Species Complex

Genome analysis is a powerful way to dissect complex traits and identify allelic variation in gene function involved in adaptation. A prerequisite, is knowledge about how genomes of plant species or genera segregate across climate/environmental space. Are new mutations, ancestral haplotypes, or homeologous variation underlying adaptations in novel locations? We genotyped by sequencing > 60,000 SNPs from more than 570 accessions representing 330 populations of 13 climatetypes across 6 continents of at least three Brachypodium cytotypes to characterize genomic diversity and investigate how genotypes segregate across native and non-native geographic and climatic space. This work has implications to better understand how introduced species adapt and spread in non-native locations and further develop the compilo Brachypodium distachyon species complex.