REVIEW ARTICLE published: 03 June 2013 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2013.00167 Adaptation to seasonality and the winter freeze Jill C. Preston1* and Simen R. Sandve 2 1 Department of Plant Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA 2 Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway Edited by: Flowering plants initially diversified during the Mesozoic era at least 140 million years ago Madelaine Bartlett, Brigham Young in regions of the world where temperate seasonal environments were not encountered. University, USA Since then several cooling events resulted in the contraction of warm and wet environments Reviewed by: and the establishment of novel temperate zones in both hemispheres. In response, less Rishi Bhalerao, Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet, Sweden than half of modern angiosperm families have members that evolved specific adaptations Ben Trevaskis, Commonwealth to cold seasonal climates, including cold acclimation, freezing tolerance, endodormancy, Scientific and Industrial Research and vernalization responsiveness. Despite compelling evidence for multiple independent Organisation, Australia Erika Edwards, Brown University, USA origins, the level of genetic constraint on the evolution of adaptations to seasonal cold is not well understood. However, the recent increase in molecular genetic studies examining *Correspondence: Jill C. Preston, Department of Plant the response of model and crop species to seasonal cold offers new insight into the Biology, University of Vermont, 111 evolutionary lability of these traits.This insight has major implications for our understanding Jeffords Hall, 63 Carrigan Drive, of complex trait evolution, and the potential role of local adaptation in response to past and Burlington, VT 05405, USA e-mail:
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