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de la Mata R, Mollá-Morales A, Méndez-Vigo B, Torres-Pérez R, Oliveros JC, Gómez R, Marcer A, Castilla AR, Nordborg M, Alonso-Blanco C, Picó FX. Variation and plasticity in life-history traits and fitness of wild Arabidopsis thaliana populations are not related to their genotypic and ecological diversity. BMC Ecol Evol 2024; 24:56. [PMID: 38702598 PMCID: PMC11067129 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-024-02246-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite its implications for population dynamics and evolution, the relationship between genetic and phenotypic variation in wild populations remains unclear. Here, we estimated variation and plasticity in life-history traits and fitness of the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana in two common garden experiments that differed in environmental conditions. We used up to 306 maternal inbred lines from six Iberian populations characterized by low and high genotypic (based on whole-genome sequences) and ecological (vegetation type) diversity. RESULTS Low and high genotypic and ecological diversity was found in edge and core Iberian environments, respectively. Given that selection is expected to be stronger in edge environments and that ecological diversity may enhance both phenotypic variation and plasticity, we expected genotypic diversity to be positively associated with phenotypic variation and plasticity. However, maternal lines, irrespective of the genotypic and ecological diversity of their population of origin, exhibited a substantial amount of phenotypic variation and plasticity for all traits. Furthermore, all populations harbored maternal lines with canalization (robustness) or sensitivity in response to harsher environmental conditions in one of the two experiments. CONCLUSIONS Overall, we conclude that the environmental attributes of each population probably determine their genotypic diversity, but all populations maintain substantial phenotypic variation and plasticity for all traits, which represents an asset to endure in changing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raul de la Mata
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, 41092, Spain
- Faculty of Forestry, Institute of Dehesa Research (INDEHESA), Universidad de Extremadura, 10600, Plasencia, Spain
| | | | - Belén Méndez-Vigo
- Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rafael Torres-Pérez
- Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Carlos Oliveros
- Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rocío Gómez
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, 41092, Spain
| | - Arnald Marcer
- CREAF, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193, Catalonia, Spain
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Antonio R Castilla
- Department of Plant Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, College of Arts and Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078-3031, USA
| | - Magnus Nordborg
- Gregor Mendel Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Carlos Alonso-Blanco
- Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - F Xavier Picó
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, 41092, Spain.
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Spear MM, Levi SJ, Etterson JR, Gross BL. Resurrecting urban sunflowers: Phenotypic and molecular changes between antecedent and modern populations separated by 36 years. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:5241-5259. [PMID: 37667619 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
Resurrection experiments provide a unique opportunity to evaluate phenotypic and molecular evolution in response to environmental challenges. To understand the evolution of urban populations of Helianthus annuus, we compared plants from 36-year-old antecedent seed collections to modern seed collections from the same area using molecular and quantitative genetic approaches. We found 200 differentially expressed transcripts between antecedent and modern groups, and transcript expression was generally higher in modern samples as compared to antecedent samples. Admixture analysis indicated gene flow from domesticated to modern populations over time. After a greenhouse refresher generation, one antecedent-modern population pair was grown under two water availability (well-watered and drought) and temperature (ambient and elevated by 2.8°C) conditions reflecting historical and contemporary climates. Overall, 78% (7 out of 9) of traits differed between the antecedent and modern populations, with modern individuals displaying some trait changes that are coherent with climate changes expectations and some trait changes in the direction of crop varieties. Phenotypic selection analysis showed that modern trait values were often favoured by selection, especially in environmental treatments resembling modern conditions. Trait heritability in the antecedent population was five times as high as in the modern population, on average. In addition, phenotypic plasticity for some traits, such as flowering phenology, was present in the antecedent population but absent in the modern population. The combination of phenotypic and molecular information suggests that evolution has been influenced by crop-wild introgression, adaptive processes and drift. We discuss these results in the context of continued evolution in response to anthropogenic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marissa M Spear
- Department of Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota, USA
| | - Sophie J Levi
- Department of Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota, USA
| | - Julie R Etterson
- Department of Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota, USA
| | - Briana L Gross
- Department of Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota, USA
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Gomaa NH, Picó FX. Depicting the phenotypic space of the annual plant Diplotaxis acris in hyperarid deserts. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:15708-15719. [PMID: 34824784 PMCID: PMC8601918 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The phenotypic space encompasses the assemblage of trait combinations yielding well-suited integrated phenotypes. At the population level, understanding the phenotypic space structure requires the quantification of among- and within-population variations in traits and the correlation pattern among them. Here, we studied the phenotypic space of the annual plant Diplotaxis acris occurring in hyperarid deserts. Given the advance of warming and aridity in vast regions occupied by drylands, D. acris can indicate the successful evolutionary trajectory that many other annual plant species may follow in expanding drylands. To this end, we conducted a greenhouse experiment with 176 D. acris individuals from five Saudi populations to quantify the genetic component of variation in architectural and life history traits. We found low among-population divergence but high among-individual variation in all traits. In addition, all traits showed a high degree of genetic determination in our study experimental conditions. We did not find significant effects of recruitment and fecundity on fitness. Finally, all architectural traits exhibited a strong correlation pattern among them, whereas for life history traits, only higher seed germination implied earlier flowering. Seed weight appeared to be an important trait in D. acris as individuals with heavier seeds tended to advance flowering and have a more vigorous branching pattern, which led to higher fecundity. Population divergence in D. acris might be constrained by the severity of the hyperarid environment, but populations maintain high among-individual genetic variation in all traits. Furthermore, D. acris showed phenotypic integration for architectural traits and, to a lesser extent, for life history traits. Overall, we hypothesize that D. acris may be fine-tuned to its demanding extreme environments. Evolutionary speaking, annual plants facing increasing warming, aridity, and environmental seasonality might modify their phenotypic spaces toward new phenotypic configurations strongly dominated by correlated architectural traits enhancing fecundity and seed-related traits advancing flowering time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nasr H. Gomaa
- Department of Botany and MicrobiologyFaculty of ScienceBeni‐Suef UniversityBeni‐SuefEgypt
- Biology DepartmentCollege of ScienceJouf UniversitySakakaSaudi Arabia
| | - F. Xavier Picó
- Departamento de Ecología Integrativa, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)SevillaSpain
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4
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Hamann E, Denney D, Day S, Lombardi E, Jameel MI, MacTavish R, Anderson JT. Review: Plant eco-evolutionary responses to climate change: Emerging directions. PLANT SCIENCE : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PLANT BIOLOGY 2021; 304:110737. [PMID: 33568289 DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2020.110737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Revised: 10/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/25/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Contemporary climate change is exposing plant populations to novel combinations of temperatures, drought stress, [CO2] and other abiotic and biotic conditions. These changes are rapidly disrupting the evolutionary dynamics of plants. Despite the multifactorial nature of climate change, most studies typically manipulate only one climatic factor. In this opinion piece, we explore how climate change factors interact with each other and with biotic pressures to alter evolutionary processes. We evaluate the ramifications of climate change across life history stages,and examine how mating system variation influences population persistence under rapid environmental change. Furthermore, we discuss how spatial and temporal mismatches between plants and their mutualists and antagonists could affect adaptive responses to climate change. For example, plant-virus interactions vary from highly pathogenic to mildly facilitative, and are partly mediated by temperature, moisture availability and [CO2]. Will host plants exposed to novel, stressful abiotic conditions be more susceptible to viral pathogens? Finally, we propose novel experimental approaches that could illuminate how plants will cope with unprecedented global change, such as resurrection studies combined with experimental evolution, genomics or epigenetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Hamann
- Department of Genetics and Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Derek Denney
- Department of Genetics and Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Samantha Day
- Department of Genetics and Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Elizabeth Lombardi
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - M Inam Jameel
- Department of Genetics and Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Rachel MacTavish
- Department of Genetics and Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Jill T Anderson
- Department of Genetics and Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
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Kooyers NJ, Morioka KA, Colicchio JM, Clark KS, Donofrio A, Estill SK, Pascualy CR, Anderson IC, Hagler M, Cho C, Blackman BK. Population responses to a historic drought across the range of the common monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2021; 108:284-296. [PMID: 33400274 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Due to climate change, more frequent and intense periodic droughts are predicted to increasingly pose major challenges to the persistence of plant populations. When a severe drought occurs over a broad geographical region, independent responses by individual populations provide replicated natural experiments for examining the evolution of drought resistance and the potential for evolutionary rescue. METHODS We used a resurrection approach to examine trait evolution in populations of the common monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus, exposed to a record drought in California from 2011 to 2017. Specifically, we compared variation in traits related to drought escape and avoidance from seeds collected from 37 populations pre- and post-drought in a common garden. In a parallel experiment, we evaluated fitness in two populations, one which thrived and one which was nearly extirpated during the drought, under well-watered and dry-down conditions. RESULTS We observed substantial variation among populations in trait evolution. In the subset of populations where phenotypes changed significantly, divergence proceeded along trait correlations with some populations flowering rapidly with less vegetative tissue accumulation and others delaying flowering with greater vegetative tissue accumulation. The degree of trait evolution was only weakly correlated with drought intensity but strongly correlated with initial levels of standing variation. Fitness was higher in the post-drought than pre-drought accessions in both treatments for the thriving population, but lower in both treatments for the nearly extirpated population. CONCLUSIONS Together, our results indicate that evolutionary responses to drought are context dependent and reflect the standing genetic variation and genetic correlations present within populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J Kooyers
- Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, 70503, USA
| | - Kelsie A Morioka
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Jack M Colicchio
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Kaitlyn S Clark
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA
| | - Abigail Donofrio
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA
| | - Shayne K Estill
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Catalina R Pascualy
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Ian C Anderson
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Megan Hagler
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Chloe Cho
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Benjamin K Blackman
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
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6
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Mahaut L, Cheptou PO, Fried G, Munoz F, Storkey J, Vasseur F, Violle C, Bretagnolle F. Weeds: Against the Rules? TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 25:1107-1116. [PMID: 32600939 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Establishing laws of plant and ecosystems functioning has been an overarching objective of functional and evolutionary ecology. However, most theories neglect the role of human activities in creating novel ecosystems characterized by species assemblages and environmental factors that are not observed in natural systems. We argue that agricultural weeds, as an emblematic case of such an 'ecological novelty', constitute an original and underutilized model for challenging current concepts in ecology and evolution. We highlight key aspects of weed ecology and evolutionary biology that can help to test and recast ecological and evolutionary laws in a changing world. We invite ecologists to seize upon weeds as a model system to improve our understanding of the short-term and long-term dynamics of ecological systems in the Anthropocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Mahaut
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, UnivPaul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France.
| | - Pierre-Olivier Cheptou
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, UnivPaul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France
| | - Guillaume Fried
- Anses, Laboratoire de la Santé des Végétaux, Unité Entomologie et Plantes invasives, 755 avenue du Campus Agropolis, 34988 Montferrier-sur-Lez, France
| | - François Munoz
- Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique (LIPhy), Université de Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | | | - François Vasseur
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, UnivPaul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France; Laboratoire d'Ecophysiologie des Plantes sous Stress Environnementaux (LEPSE), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRAE), Montpellier SupAgro, UMR 759, 34000 Montpellier, France
| | - Cyrille Violle
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, UnivPaul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France
| | - François Bretagnolle
- Université Bourgogne Franche Comte, Biogeosciences, UMR 6282, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Dijon, France
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7
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Muñoz-Pajares AJ, Abdelaziz M, Picó FX. Temporal migration rates affect the genetic structure of populations in the biennial Erysimum mediohispanicum with reproductive asynchrony. AOB PLANTS 2020; 12:plaa037. [PMID: 32904355 PMCID: PMC7454028 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plaa037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Migration is a process with important implications for the genetic structure of populations. However, there is an aspect of migration seldom investigated in plants: migration between temporally isolated groups of individuals within the same geographic population. The genetic implications of temporal migration can be particularly relevant for semelparous organisms, which are those that reproduce only once in a lifetime after a certain period of growth. In this case, reproductive asynchrony in individuals of the same population generates demes of individuals differing in their developmental stage (non-reproductive and reproductive). These demes are connected by temporal migrants, that is, individuals that become annually asynchronous with respect to the rest of individuals of their same deme. Here, we investigated the extent of temporal migration and its effects on temporal genetic structure in the biennial plant Erysimum mediohispanicum. To this end, we conducted two independent complementary approaches. First, we empirically estimated temporal migration rates and temporal genetic structure in four populations of E. mediohispanicum during three consecutive years using nuclear microsatellites markers. Second, we developed a demographic genetic simulation model to assess genetic structure for different migration scenarios differing in temporal migration rates and their occurrence probabilities. We hypothesized that genetic structure decreased with increasing temporal migration rates due to the homogenizing effect of migration. Empirical and modelling results were consistent and indicated a U-shape relationship between genetic structure and temporal migration rates. Overall, they indicated the existence of temporal genetic structure and that such genetic structure indeed decreased with increasing temporal migration rates. However, genetic structure increased again at high temporal migration rates. The results shed light into the effects of reproductive asynchrony on important population genetic parameters. Our study contributes to unravel the complexity of some processes that may account for genetic diversity and genetic structure of natural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Jesús Muñoz-Pajares
- Departamento de Genética, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO), Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
- Corresponding author’s e-mail address:
| | - Mohamed Abdelaziz
- Departamento de Genética, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - F Xavier Picó
- Departamento de Ecología Integrativa, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
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8
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Castilla AR, Méndez-Vigo B, Marcer A, Martínez-Minaya J, Conesa D, Picó FX, Alonso-Blanco C. Ecological, genetic and evolutionary drivers of regional genetic differentiation in Arabidopsis thaliana. BMC Evol Biol 2020; 20:71. [PMID: 32571210 PMCID: PMC7310121 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-020-01635-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Disentangling the drivers of genetic differentiation is one of the cornerstones in evolution. This is because genetic diversity, and the way in which it is partitioned within and among populations across space, is an important asset for the ability of populations to adapt and persist in changing environments. We tested three major hypotheses accounting for genetic differentiation-isolation-by-distance (IBD), isolation-by-environment (IBE) and isolation-by-resistance (IBR)-in the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana across the Iberian Peninsula, the region with the largest genomic diversity. To that end, we sampled, genotyped with genome-wide SNPs, and analyzed 1772 individuals from 278 populations distributed across the Iberian Peninsula. RESULTS IBD, and to a lesser extent IBE, were the most important drivers of genetic differentiation in A. thaliana. In other words, dispersal limitation, genetic drift, and to a lesser extent local adaptation to environmental gradients, accounted for the within- and among-population distribution of genetic diversity. Analyses applied to the four Iberian genetic clusters, which represent the joint outcome of the long demographic and adaptive history of the species in the region, showed similar results except for one cluster, in which IBR (a function of landscape heterogeneity) was the most important driver of genetic differentiation. Using spatial hierarchical Bayesian models, we found that precipitation seasonality and topsoil pH chiefly accounted for the geographic distribution of genetic diversity in Iberian A. thaliana. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the interplay between the influence of precipitation seasonality on genetic diversity and the effect of restricted dispersal and genetic drift on genetic differentiation emerges as the major forces underlying the evolutionary trajectory of Iberian A. thaliana.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio R Castilla
- Centre for Applied Ecology "Prof. Baeta Neves", InBIO, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Departamento de Ecología Integrativa, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
| | - Belén Méndez-Vigo
- Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Arnald Marcer
- CREAF, Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals, Bellaterra, E08193, Cerdanyola de Vallès, Catalonia, Spain
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, E08193, Cerdanyola de Vallès, Catalonia, Spain
| | | | - David Conesa
- Departament d'Estadística i Investigació Operativa, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - F Xavier Picó
- Departamento de Ecología Integrativa, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain.
| | - Carlos Alonso-Blanco
- Departamento de Genética Molecular de Plantas, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
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9
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Lambrecht SC, Gujral AK, Renshaw LJ, Rosengreen LT. Evolutionary and plastic changes in a native annual plant after a historic drought. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:4570-4582. [PMID: 32551044 PMCID: PMC7297769 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe droughts are forecast to increase with global change. Approaches that enable the study of contemporary evolution, such as resurrection studies, are valuable for providing insights into the responses of populations to global change. In this study, we used a resurrection approach to study the evolution of the California native Leptosiphon bicolor (true babystars, Polemoniaceae) across populations differing in precipitation in response to the state's recent prolonged drought (2011-2017). In the Mediterranean climate region in which L. bicolor grows, this historic drought effectively shortened its growing season. We used seeds collected both before and after this drought from three populations found along a moisture availability gradient to assess contemporary evolution in a common garden greenhouse study. We coupled this with a drought experiment to examine plasticity. We found evolution toward earlier flowering after the historic drought in the wettest of the three populations, while plasticity to experimental drought was observed across all three. We also observed trade-offs associated with earlier flowering. In the driest population, plants that flowered earlier had lower intrinsic water-use efficiency than those flowering later, which was an expected pattern. Unexpectedly, earlier flowering plants had larger flowers. Two populations exhibited evolution and plasticity toward smaller flowers with drought. The third exhibited evolution toward larger flowers, but displayed no plasticity. Our results provide valuable insights into differences among native plant populations in response to drought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan C. Lambrecht
- Department of Biological SciencesSan Jose State UniversitySan JoseCalifornia
| | - Anjum K. Gujral
- Department of Biological SciencesSan Jose State UniversitySan JoseCalifornia
| | - Lani J. Renshaw
- Department of Biological SciencesSan Jose State UniversitySan JoseCalifornia
| | - Lars T. Rosengreen
- Department of Biological SciencesSan Jose State UniversitySan JoseCalifornia
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10
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Denney DA, Jameel MI, Bemmels JB, Rochford ME, Anderson JT. Small spaces, big impacts: contributions of micro-environmental variation to population persistence under climate change. AOB PLANTS 2020; 12:plaa005. [PMID: 32211145 PMCID: PMC7082537 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plaa005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Individuals within natural populations can experience very different abiotic and biotic conditions across small spatial scales owing to microtopography and other micro-environmental gradients. Ecological and evolutionary studies often ignore the effects of micro-environment on plant population and community dynamics. Here, we explore the extent to which fine-grained variation in abiotic and biotic conditions contributes to within-population variation in trait expression and genetic diversity in natural plant populations. Furthermore, we consider whether benign microhabitats could buffer local populations of some plant species from abiotic stresses imposed by rapid anthropogenic climate change. If microrefugia sustain local populations and communities in the short term, other eco-evolutionary processes, such as gene flow and adaptation, could enhance population stability in the longer term. We caution, however, that local populations may still decline in size as they contract into rare microhabitats and microrefugia. We encourage future research that explicitly examines the role of the micro-environment in maintaining genetic variation within local populations, favouring the evolution of phenotypic plasticity at local scales and enhancing population persistence under global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek A Denney
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - M Inam Jameel
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Jordan B Bemmels
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Mia E Rochford
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Jill T Anderson
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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