Parallel adaptation to lower altitudes is associated with enhanced plasticity in Heliosperma pusillum (Caryophyllaceae)

Author:

Szukala Aglaia123,Bertel Clara4,Frajman Božo4,Schönswetter Peter4,Paun Ovidiu1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research University of Vienna Rennweg 14 A‐1030 Vienna Austria

2. Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics Vienna Austria

3. Austrian Federal Research Centre for Forests (BFW) Unit of Ecological Genetics Seckendorff‐Gudent‐Weg 8 A‐1131 Vienna Austria

4. Department of Botany University of Innsbruck Innsbruck Austria

Abstract

SUMMARYHigh levels of phenotypic plasticity are thought to be inherently costly in stable or extreme environments, but enhanced plasticity may evolve as a response to new environments and foster novel phenotypes. Heliosperma pusillum forms glabrous alpine and pubescent montane ecotypes that diverged recurrently and polytopically (parallel evolution) and can serve as evolutionary replicates. The specific alpine and montane localities are characterized by distinct temperature conditions, available moisture, and light. Noteworthy, the ecotypes show a home‐site fitness advantage in reciprocal transplantations. To disentangle the relative contribution of constitutive versus plastic gene expression to altitudinal divergence, we analyze the transcriptomic profiles of two parallely evolved ecotype pairs, grown in reciprocal transplantations at native altitudinal sites. In this incipient stage of divergence, only a minor proportion of genes appear constitutively differentially expressed between the ecotypes in both pairs, regardless of the growing environment. Both derived, montane populations bear comparatively higher plasticity of gene expression than the alpine populations. Genes that change expression plastically or constitutively underlie similar ecologically relevant pathways, related to response to drought and trichome formation. Other relevant processes, such as photosynthesis, rely mainly on plastic changes. The enhanced plasticity consistently observed in the montane ecotype likely evolved as a response to the newly colonized, drier, and warmer niche. We report a striking parallelism of directional changes in gene expression plasticity. Thus, plasticity appears to be a key mechanism shaping the initial stages of phenotypic evolution, likely fostering adaptation to novel environments.

Funder

Austrian Science Fund

Publisher

Wiley

Subject

Cell Biology,Plant Science,Genetics

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