# Uncovering the genetic basis of competitiveness and the potential for cooperation in plant groups

## TL;DR

This study explores how plant competitiveness and cooperation can be influenced by genetics, using Arabidopsis to identify genes that affect group productivity.

## Contribution

The study identifies a novel genomic region linked to plant competitiveness and evaluates methods for genetic mapping.

## Key findings

- A major dwarfing gene, the erecta allele, reduces competitiveness and increases group productivity.
- There is extensive variation in competitiveness beyond the effects of the erecta allele.
- Some measures of competitiveness are more effective than others for genetic analysis.

## Abstract

Crop productivity was transformed by incorporating dwarfing genes that made plants smaller and less competitive (more cooperative). Beyond such major shifts in plant size, however, it is not clear how much variation in competitiveness remains and how to find its genetic basis. We performed plant density experiments, using 484 lines of the Arabidopsis thaliana multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross population, to compare methods for mapping the genetic basis of plant competitiveness. We first found that a major dwarfing gene, the erecta allele, caused reduced competitiveness and higher group productivity. Then, measuring competitiveness more generally, we found: (i) extensive variation in generic measures of competitiveness that extended beyond the effects of the erecta allele; (ii) a novel genomic region underlying variation in competitiveness; and (iii) that some measures of competitiveness were more useful than others. Our results show how modern genomic resources, including multi-parent populations, could uncover hidden genes for more cooperative crop plants.