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70 results for “morphological plasticity”
The evolution of plasticity in brain morphology following colonization of an ecologically divergent habitat in Trinidadian guppies
<p>Natural environments are constantly changing. To survive, organisms will either need to rapidly adapt to new conditions or colonize new habitats. Colonization has been hypothesized to select for increased plasticity as well as increased brain size, though empirical tests of these effects have proven difficult to evaluate. In particular, the degree to which plasticity of brain morphology can evolve, and its subsequent ecological consequences have rarely been explored. Trinidadian guppies (<em>Poecilia reticulata</em>) are known for their repeated adaptation to ancestral high-predation (HP) and derived low-predation (LP) environments. We used this system to examine the evolution and plasticity of brain morphology. We exposed second-generation offspring of individuals collected from HP and LP sites to two different kinds of environmental treatments: predation cues and conspecific social environment. We found that guppies descended from a colonized LP habitat showed greater plasticity in brain morphology than descendants of their ancestral HP population, supporting the hypothesis that plasticity of brain morphology may increase fitness after colonization of a novel habitat. Additionally, we show sexual dimorphism in brain morphology plasticity. Overall, these results suggest the evolution of brain morphology plasticity as an important mechanism that allows for ecological diversification and colonization of novel habitats.</p>
Morphological integration, canalization, and plasticity in response to emergence time in Abutilon theophrasti
<p>The relationships between trait plasticity and canalization, and between phenotypic integration and plasticity, have been under debate, largely because direct evidence is still scarce for their associations, especially in response to environments. To investigate the relationships between canalization, integration and phenotypic plasticity in response to emergence time, we conducted a field experiment with an annual herbaceous species of <em>Abutilon theophrasti</em>, by subjecting plants to four treatments of emergence time (spring, late spring, summer and late summer), to measure a number of morphological traits and analyze correlations of plasticity with canalization and integration in these traits, at two stages of plant growth. Results showed plants with delayed emergence had higher phenotypic integration and more positive correlations between integration and plasticity, but less negative correlations between decreased canalization and plasticity, compared to those emerged in spring. Results suggested significant environmental changes that induce plastic responses, rather than environmental stress, can result in greater phenotypic integration in plants. Negative correlations between decreased canalization and plasticity occurred more frequently in plants emerging in spring and the least frequently in those emerging in summer, suggesting their relationship depends on specific environmental conditions and the degree of plasticity. Both increased phenotypic integration and decreased canalization might merely be the outcome of plastic responses, rather than mechanisms constraining or facilitating plasticity.</p>
Morphological plasticity in response to emergence time and population density in Abutilon theophrasti (Malvaceae)
<p>Increased density and delayed emergence are two major biotic factors in nature that have profound and complex effects on plants. No studies have attempt to compare the responses of plants to the two factors via morphological plasticity, particularly in dynamic patterns. We subjected plants of <em>Abutilon theophrasti</em> to four emergence times and three planting densities and measured and analyzed a number of mass and morphological traits at different growth stages. Across both stages, plants emerged in late spring had the highest total mass, and spring and late-spring plants had higher stem mass allocation than later germinants, but plants with delayed emergence had higher leaf and reproductive mass allocation, more leaves and less lateral roots, but lower stem length, stem and root diameter than early-emerged plants. Plants at high density performed lower in total mass and most other traits, but performed better in stem allocation and length, with shorter petioles and lateral roots, than at lower densities. In competition for resources, plants will prefer stem elongation to leaf/root growth, and even at the cost of reproduction to ensure the survival of the present generations when competition is intense or lethal. By contrast, plants will prefer the investment into leaf and reproductive growth to stem/root growth, for offspring persistence, when shortened lifetime does not threaten the contemporary survival. The contrasting strategies revealed the intelligence of plants in balancing between survival, growth and reproduction, depending on environmental contexts.</p>
Stay in shape: assessing the adaptive potential of shell morphology and its sensitivity to temperature in the invasive New Zealand Mud Snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum through phenotypic plasticity and natural selection in Europe
<p>Climate change may force organisms to adapt genetically or plastically to new environmental conditions. Invasive species show a remarkable potential for rapid adaptation. The ovoviviparous New Zealand mud snail (NZMS), <em>Potamopyrgus antipodarum</em>, has successfully established across Europe with two clonally reproducing mitochondrial lineages since its arrival in the first half of the 19th century. Its remarkable variation in shell morphology was shown to be fitness relevant. We investigated the effects of temperature on shell morphology across eleven populations from Germany and the Iberian Peninsula in a common garden across three temperatures. We analysed size and shape using geometric morphometrics. For both, we compared reaction norms and estimated heritabilities. For size, the interaction of temperature and haplotype explained about 50% of the total variance. We also observed more genotype by environment interactions indicating a higher degree of population differentiation than in shape. Across the three temperatures, size followed the expectations of the temperature-size rule, with individuals growing larger in cold environments. Changes in shape may have compensated changes in size affecting space for brooding embryos. Heritability estimates were relatively high. As indicated by the very low coefficients of variation for clonal repeatability (<em>CV<sub>A</sub></em>), they can probably not be compared in absolute terms. However, they showed some sensitivity to temperature, in haplotype t more so than in z, which was only found in Portugal. The low <em>CV<sub>A</sub></em>-values indicate that genetic variation among European populations is still restricted with low potential to react to selection. A considerable fraction of the genetic variation was due to differences between the clonal lineages. The NZMS has apparently not been long enough in Europe to accumulate significant genetic variation relevant for morphological adaptation. As temperature is obviously not the sole factor influencing shell morphology, their interaction will probably not be a factor limiting population persistence under a warming climate in Europe.</p>
Morphological and genetic mechanisms underlying the plasticity of the coral Porites astreoides across depths in Bermuda
<p>This data repository contains the raw data used in the morphological analyses for "Morphological and genetic mechanisms underlying the plasticity of the coral Porites astreoides across depths in Bermuda" </p> <ul> <li><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsb.2023.108036" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1016/j.jsb.2023.108036</a></li> </ul>
Fig. 10 in Ecophenotypic plasticity versus evolutionary trends-morphological variability in Upper Jurassic bivalve shells from Portugal
Fig. 10. Box plot of rib numbers in Arcomytilus. Numbers in squared brackets refer to Fig. 2.
Data from: Correlational selection on personality and social plasticity: morphology and social context determine behavioural effects on mating success
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Data for: A histone demethylase links the loss of plasticity to nongenetic inheritance and morphological change
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The evolution of plasticity in brain morphology following colonization of an ecologically divergent habitat in Trinidadian guppies
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Stay in shape: assessing the adaptive potential of shell morphology and its sensitivity to temperature in the invasive New Zealand Mud Snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum through phenotypic plasticity and natural selection in Europe
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Morphological integration, canalization, and plasticity in response to emergence time in Abutilon theophrasti
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Morphological plasticity in response to emergence time and population density in Abutilon theophrasti (Malvaceae)
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Rapid differentiation of plasticity in life history and morphology during invasive range expansion and concurrent local adaptation in the horned beetle Onthophagus taurus
<p>Understanding the interplay between genetic differentiation, ancestral plasticity, and the evolution of plasticity during adaptation to environmental variation is critical to predict populations' responses to environmental change. However, the role of plasticity in rapid adaptation in nature remains poorly understood. We here use the invasion of the horned beetle <i>Onthophagus taurus</i> in the United States during the last half century to study the contribution of ancestral plasticity and post-invasion evolution of plastic responses in rapid population differentiation. We document latitudinal variation in life history and morphology, including genetic compensation in development time and body size, likely adaptive responses to seasonal constraints in the North. However, clinal variation in development time and size was strongly dependent on rearing temperature, suggesting that population differentiation in plasticity played a critical role in successful adaptation on ecological timescales. Clinal variation in wing shape was independent of ancestral plasticity, but correlated with derived plasticity, consistent with evolutionary interdependence. In contrast, clinal variation in tibia shape aligned poorly with thermal plasticity. Overall, this study suggests that post-invasion evolution of plasticity contributed to range expansions and concurrent adaptation to novel climatic conditions.</p>
Data from: Morphological novelty emerges from pre-existing phenotypic plasticity
Plasticity-first evolution (PFE) posits that novel features arise when selection refines pre-existing phenotypic plasticity into an adaptive phenotype. However, PFE is controversial because few tests have been conducted in natural populations. Here we present evidence that PFE fostered the origin of an evolutionary novelty that allowed certain amphibians to invade a new niche—a distinctive carnivore morph. We compared morphology, gene expression and growth of three species of spadefoot toad tadpoles when reared on alternative diets: Scaphiopus holbrookii, which (like most frogs) never produce carnivores; Spea multiplicata, which sometimes produce carnivores, but only through diet-induced plasticity; and Spea bombifrons, which often produce carnivores regardless of diet. Consistent with PFE, we found diet-induced plasticity—in morphology and gene expression—in Sc. holbrookii, adaptive refinement of this plasticity in Sp. multiplicata, and further refinement of the carnivore phenotype in Sp. bombifrons. Generally, phenotypic plasticity might play a significant, if underappreciated, role in evolutionary innovation.
Data from: Plasticity and heritability of morphological variation within and between parapatric stickleback demes
The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) has emerged as an important model organism in evolutionary ecology, largely due to the repeated, parallel evolution of divergent morphotypes found in populations having colonized freshwater habitats. However, morphological divergence following colonization is not a universal phenomenon. We explore this in a large-scale estuarine ecosystem inhabited by two parapatric stickleback demes, each physiologically adapted to divergent osmoregulatory environments (fresh vs. saline waters). Using geometric morphometric analyses of wild-caught individuals, we detected significant differences between demes, in addition to sexual dimorphism, in body shape. However, rearing full-sib families from each deme under controlled, reciprocal salinity conditions revealed no differences between genotypes and highly significant environmental effects. It is also noteworthy that fish from both demes were fully plated, whether found in the wild or reared under reciprocal salinity conditions. Although we found significant heritability for body shape, we also noted significant direct environmental effects for many latent shape variables. Moreover, we found little evidence for diversifying selection acting on body size and shape (QST). Nevertheless, uniform compressive variation did exceed neutral expectations, yet despite evidence of both allometry and genetic correlation with body length, we detected no correlated signatures of selection. Taken together, these results suggest that much of the morphological divergence observed in this system is the result of plastic responses to environmental variation rather than adaptive differentiation.
Data from: Does thermal plasticity align with local adaptation? – An interspecific comparison of wing morphology in sepsid flies
Although genetic and plastic responses are sometimes considered as unrelated processes, their phenotypic effects may often align because genetic adaptation is expected to mirror phenotypic plasticity if adaptive, but run counter to it when maladaptive. The magnitude and direction of this alignment has further consequences for both the tempo and mode of adaptation. To better understand the interplay between phenotypic plasticity and genetic change in mediating adaptive phenotypic variation to climate variability, we here quantified genetic latitudinal variation and thermal plasticity in wing loading and wing shape in two closely related and widespread sepsid flies. Common garden rearing of 16 geographical populations reared across multiple temperatures revealed that wing loading decreases with latitude in both species. This pattern could be driven by selection for increased dispersal capacity in the cold. However, although allometry, sexual dimorphism, thermal plasticity and latitudinal differentiation in wing shape all show similar patterns in the two species, the relationship between the plastic and genetic response differed between them. While latitudinal differentiation (south to north) mirrored thermal plasticity (hot to cold) in Sepsis punctum, there was no relationship in Sepsis fulgens. While this suggests that thermal plasticity may have helped to mediate local adaptation in S. punctum, it also demonstrates that genetic wing shape differentiation and its relation to thermal plasticity may be complex and idiosyncratic, even among ecologically similar and closely related species. Hence, genetic responses can, but do not necessarily, align with phenotypic plasticity induced by changing environmental selection pressures.
Data from: A test of the "flexible stem" model of evolution: ancestral plasticity, genetic accommodation, and morphological divergence in the threespine stickleback radiation
If an ancestral stem group repeatedly colonizes similar environments, developmental plasticity specific to that group should consistently give rise to similar phenotypes. Parallel selection on those similar phenotypes could lead to the repeated evolution of characteristic ecotypes, a property common to many adaptive radiations. A key prediction of this "flexible stem" model of adaptive radiation is that patterns of phenotypic divergence in derived groups should mirror patterns of developmental plasticity in their common ancestor. The threespine stickleback radiation provides an excellent opportunity to test this prediction because the marine form is representative of the ancestral stem group, which has repeatedly given rise to several characteristic ecotypes. We examined plasticity of several aspects of shape and trophic morphology in response to diets characteristic of either the derived benthic or limnetic ecotypes. When marine fish were reared on alternative diets, plasticity of head and mouth shape paralleled phenotypic divergence between the derived ecotypes, supporting the flexible stem model. Benthic and limnetic fish exhibited patterns of plasticity similar to the marine population; however, some differences in population means were present, as well as subtle differences in shape plasticity in the benthic population, indicating a role for genetic accommodation in this system.
Data from: Anthropogenic host plant expansion leads a nettle-feeding butterfly out of the forest: consequences for larval survival and developmental plasticity in adult morphology
Recent anthropogenic eutrophication has meant that hostplants of nettle-feeding insects became quasi-omnipresent in fertile regions of Western Europe. However, hostplant resource quality – in terms of microclimate and nutritional value – may vary considerably between the 'original' forest habitat and 'recent' agricultural habitat. Here, we compared development in both environmental settings using a split-brood design, so as to explore to what extent larval survival and adult morphology in the nettle-feeding butterfly Aglais urticae are influenced by the anthropogenic environment. Nettles along field margins had higher C/N-ratios and provided warmer microclimates to larvae. Larvae developed 20% faster, and tended to improve their survival rates, on the agricultural land compared to woodland. Our split-brood approach indicated plastic responses within families, but also family effects in the phenotypic responses. Adult males and females had darker wing pigmentation in the drier and warmer agricultural environment, which contrasts with the thermal melanism hypothesis. Developmental plasticity in response to this micro-climatically different and more variable habitat was associated with a broader phenotypic parameter space for the species. Both habitat-expansion and developmental plasticity are likely contributors to the ecological and evolutionary success of these nettle-feeding insects in anthropogenic environments under high nitrogen load.
FIGURE 4. Tennysonia stellata Busk, 1867, colony morphotypes with A in Phylogenetic position and systematics of the bryozoan Tennysonia: further evidence for convergence and plasticity in skeletal morphology among cyclostome bryozoans
FIGURE 4. Tennysonia stellata Busk, 1867, colony morphotypes with A, narrow branches, (SAM A28765) and B, broad branches (SAM A28766). RIY Bank, Port Elizabeth. Scale bars 10 mm.
FIGURE 1. Tennysonia stellata Busk, 1867 in Phylogenetic position and systematics of the bryozoan Tennysonia: further evidence for convergence and plasticity in skeletal morphology among cyclostome bryozoans
FIGURE 1. Tennysonia stellata Busk, 1867, photographs of fragments of bleached colonies. A, colony with relatively narrow, bifurcating and anastomosing branches, NHMUK 72.8.6.5, Natal; B, fragment of specimen figured by Busk (1875, pl. 31, fig. 6), NHMUK 75.5.29.63, Natal; C, flabellate colony morphotype with delayed separation of bifurcating branches, NHMUK 2003.10.27.13, Groot Bank, Plettenberg Bay. Scale bars: A, C: 5 mm; B: 1 mm.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.