Genetic Architecture of Natural Variation in Thermal Responses of Arabidopsis.Wild strains of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) exhibit extensive natural variation in a wide variety of traits, including response to environmental changes.  Here, we analyze the genetic architecture of natural variation in thermal responses of Arabidopsis.  We show that variation in thermal response differs between traits, suggesting that the individual phenotypes do not capture all the variation associated with thermal response.  Genome-wide association studies and quantitative trait locus analyses reveal that multiple rare alleles contribute to the genetic architecture of variation in thermal response.  We identify at least 20 genomic regions that are associated with variation in thermal response.  Further characterizations of temperature sensitivity quantitative trait loci that are shared between traits reveal a role for the blue-light receptor CRYPTOCHROME2 (CRY2) in thermosensory growth responses.  Transgenic analyses suggest that the allelic effects of CRY2 on thermal response are dependent on genetic background suggestive of the presence of modifiers. 
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