Project Baseline: An unprecedented resource to study plant evolution across space and time

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Biology
• Genomics
• Ecology

Background:

• Rapid environmental change necessitates understanding microevolutionary processes.
• Project Baseline provides a unique resource for studying contemporary evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a living genome bank for examining spatial and temporal dimensions of microevolution.
• To enable detection of phenotypic and molecular evolution over 50 years.

Main Methods:

• Collecting genetically representative seeds from multiple populations and species across the US.
• Storing seeds by maternal line under conditions maximizing longevity.
• Developing an open-access resource for researchers.

Main Results:

• Collection includes 78,000 maternal lines from 61 species across 831 populations.
• Sites were chosen for long-term preservation.
• The collection design avoids issues common in "resurrection" studies.

Conclusions:

• The resurrection approach, combined with modern techniques, can elucidate genetic change.
• This resource will significantly improve understanding of temporal and spatial evolutionary changes.
• Project Baseline facilitates the study of evolutionary processes underlying phenotypic shifts.