Local adaptation in plants often requires coordinated shifts among resources. Lowry et al. provide evidence for physiological and genomic mechanisms underpinning adaptive shifts in yellow monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus), such as the transition between annual and perennial life histories. In M. guttatus, differential activity of gibberellins, governed partially by a chromosomal inversion, is responsible for shifts between growth, reproduction, and herbivore defense (secondary compound production).
© 2019 The Author(s). Evolution © 2019 The Society for the Study of Evolution.