Physiological studies of ecology and evolution offer great
promise for mechanistic understanding and hypothesis testing in the
post-genomic era. Molecular methods
allow detailed descriptions of gene expression in response to environmental
change, historical patterns of genetic variation at neutral molecular markers,
and statistical tests for adaptive evolution.
In addition, experimental manipulations using transformation or genetic
approaches enable tests of ecological functions of individual genes, as well as
fitness comparison of allelic differences in natural populations. Experimental studies of the genes that matter
in ecology are facilitated by positional cloning, genetically undisturbed populations,
and the opportunity to manipulate known genotypes growing in their natural
environment. We illustrate these
approaches in Boechera, a perennial
wild relative of Arabidopsis native
to undisturbed habitats in western