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231 results for “adaptive plasticity”
Data from: A condition-dependent male sexual signal predicts adaptive predator-induced plasticity in offspring
<p>The possibility that sexual selection promotes adaptive evolution in variable environments remains controversial. In particular, where the scale of environmental variation results in parents and their offspring experiencing different environmental conditions, such variation is expected to break down associations between adult sexual traits and adaptive offspring traits. However, when adaptive offspring plasticity in nonsexual traits acts as an indirect benefit of mate choice, then mate choice for males that produce more plastic offspring could promote adaptation to variable environments. This hypothesis assumes that male sexual signals predict offspring plasticity, which has rarely been tested. To test this assumption, we used spadefoot toads (<i>Spea multiplicata</i>) to investigate whether variation in male sexual signals predicts the expression of tadpole tail-fin plasticity in response to predation cues. Such plasticity has been shown to be adaptive in numerous amphibian taxa. We found that condition-dependent male call characteristics predicted offspring plasticity. Generally, both phenotypic plasticity and female mate choice are ubiquitous in nature; therefore, adaptive associations between male sexual signals and offspring plasticity such as the one reported here might be common. </p>
Data from: Rapid local adaptation linked with phenotypic plasticity
<p>Models of 'plasticity-first' evolution are attractive because they explain the rapid evolution of new complex adaptations. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether plasticity can facilitate rapid microevolutionary change between diverging populations. Here we show how plasticity may have generated adaptive differences in fecundity between neighbouring wild populations of burying beetles <i>Nicrophorus vespilloides</i>. These populations occupy distinct Cambridgeshire woodlands that are just 2.5km apart and that probably originated from a common ancestral population c. 1000-4000 years ago. We find that populations are divergently adapted to breed on differently-sized carrion. Adaptive differences in clutch size and egg size are associated with divergence at loci connected with oogenesis. The populations differ specifically in the elevation of the reaction norm linking clutch size to carrion size (i.e. genetic accommodation), and in the likelihood that surplus offspring will be lost after hatching. We suggest that these two processes may have facilitated rapid local adaptation on a fine-grained spatial scale.</p>
Data from: Mating system plasticity promotes persistence and adaptation of colonizing populations of hermaphroditic angiosperms
Persistence and adaptation in novel environments are limited by small population size, strong selection, and maladaptive gene flow. Mating system plasticity is common in angiosperms and may provide both demographic and genetic benefits that promote niche evolution, including reproductive assurance and isolation from maladaptive gene flow. Yet increased self-fertilization may also cause inbreeding depression, accumulation of deleterious mutations, and reduced adaptive potential. Here we use individual-based simulations to examine the consequences of mating system plasticity for persistence and adaptation in a novel environment that imposes selection on a quantitative trait. We examine the joint evolution of local adaptation, inbreeding depression, and genetic load. We find that a plastic shift to a mixed mating system generally promotes niche evolution by decreasing the risk of extinction, providing isolation from maladaptive gene flow, and temporarily increasing genetic variance in the trait under selection, whereas obligate self-fertilization reduces adaptive potential. These effects are most pronounced under conditions of mate limitation, strong selection, or maladaptive gene flow. Our results highlight the diverse demographic and genetic consequences of self-fertilization and support the potential role for plastic shifts in mating system to promote niche evolution in flowering plants.
Data from: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 mediates adaptive developmental plasticity of hypoxia tolerance in zebrafish, Danio rerio
In recent years, natural and anthropogenic factors have increased aquatic hypoxia the world over. In most organisms, the cellular response to hypoxia is mediated by the master regulator hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1). HIF-1 also plays a critical role in the normal development of the cardiovascular system of vertebrates. We tested the hypothesis that hypoxia exposures which resulted in HIF-1 induction during embryogenesis would be associated with enhanced hypoxia tolerance in subsequent developmental stages. We exposed zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos to just 4 h of severe hypoxia or total anoxia at 18, 24 and 36 h post-fertilization (hpf). Of these, exposure to hypoxia at 24 and 36 hpf as well as anoxia at 36 hpf activated the HIF-1 cellular pathway. Zebrafish embryos that acutely upregulated the HIF-1 pathway had an increased hypoxia tolerance as larvae. The critical window for hypoxia sensitivity and HIF-1 signalling was 24 hpf. Adult male fish had a lower critical oxygen tension (Pcrit) compared with females. Early induction of HIF-1 correlated directly with an increased proportion of males in the population. We conclude that mounting a HIF-1 response during embryogenesis is associated with long-term impacts on the phenotype of later stages which could influence both individual hypoxia tolerance and population dynamics.
Data from: Should I change or should I go? phenotypic plasticity and matching habitat choice in the adaptation to environmental heterogeneity
It can be challenging for organisms to achieve a good match between their phenotypic characteristics and environmental requirements that vary in space and time. The evolution of adaptive phenotypes can result from genetic differentiation at the population level. Individuals, however, could also change their phenotype (adaptive plasticity) or select an environment because it matches with their phenotype (matching habitat choice). It is poorly known under which conditions these different solutions to environmental heterogeneity evolve and whether they operate together. Using an individual-based simulation model, we assessed which solutions evolved depending on degree of temporal variation, costs of multiple underlying traits, and order of dispersal and development. Population genetic divergence was superseded by plasticity or matching habitat choice as temporal variation increased. Plasticity and matching habitat choice were limited by their trait costs, even when this involved only a part of the underlying traits. Independent of the order of dispersal and development, plasticity evolved more commonly than matching habitat choice, in part because the match a phenotype can achieve by matching habitat choice is limited by the types of environments available. Our results explain the apparent relative rarity of matching habitat choice in nature. At the same time, our results can be used to look for matching habitat choice in those biological systems where the conditions for other solutions seem unfavorable.
Data from: Antagonistic responses of exposure to sublethal temperatures: adaptive phenotypic plasticity coincides with a reduction in organismal performance
A fitness benefit of phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to survive short-term, deleterious environmental fluctuations. Yet, the influence of selection on plasticity in modulating shifts in phenotypic traits remains unclear. Short-term phenotypic plasticity in thermal tolerance traits is attained by exposure to sublethal hot or cold temperatures (i.e. the hardening response). Heat hardening is expected to buffer organisms from the unpredictability of extreme thermal fluctuations in the environment so as to minimize interruptions in activity and enhance survival. However, exposure to sublethal temperatures might entail other phenotypic costs that constrain or inhibit the prolonged use of hardening responses across longer timescales. Here, we estimated the onset of the heat hardening response, physiological and behavioral shifts during heat hardening, and geographic variation in heat hardening using tree lizards (Urosaurus ornatus). Peak heat hardening occurred 6h after exposure to sublethal temperatures. We found that both preferred body temperatures and locomotor performance diminished following exposure to sublethal temperatures, and performance levels did not approach pre-exposure levels until after the peak hardening response. We also found support for intraspecific variation in the hardening response along an environmental gradient, where populations in more thermally variable environments exhibited stronger plastic responses and populations with higher baseline heat tolerances exhibited weaker plastic responses. Sublethal temperature exposure might induce plasticity in thermal tolerance, however we have characterized other phenotypic shifts that might curtail chronic reliance on plasticity in thermal traits as a mechanism of responding to changes in thermal environments induced by climate warming.
Data from: Adaptive genetic potential and plasticity of trait variation in the foundation prairie grass Andropogon gerardii across the US Great Plains' climate gradient: Implications for climate change and restoration
<p>Plant response to climate depends on a species' adaptive potential. To address this, we used reciprocal gardens to detect genetic and environmental plasticity effects on phenotypic variation and combined with genetic analyses. Four reciprocal garden sites were planted with three regional ecotypes of <i>Andropogon gerardii</i>, a dominant Great Plains prairie grass, using dry, mesic, wet ecotypes originating from western KS to Illinois that span 500 to 1,200 mm rainfall year<sup>-1</sup>. We aimed to answer: (1) What is the relative role of genetic constraints and phenotypic plasticity in controlling phenotypes? 2) When planted in the home site, is there a trait syndrome for each ecotype? 3) How are genotypes and phenotypes structured by climate? (4) What are implications of these results for response to climate change and use of ecotypes for restoration? Surprisingly, we did not detect consistent local adaptation. Rather, we detected co-gradient variation primarily for most vegetative responses. All ecotypes were stunted in western KS. Eastward, the wet ecotype was increasingly robust relative to other ecotypes. In contrast, fitness showed evidence for local adaptation in wet and dry ecotypes with wet and mesic ecotypes producing little seed in western KS. Earlier flowering time in the dry ecotype suggests adaptation to end of season drought. Considering ecotype traits in home site, the dry ecotype was characterized by reduced canopy area and diameter, short plants, and low vegetative biomass and putatively adapted to water limitation. The wet ecotype was robust, tall with high biomass and wide leaves putatively adapted for the highly competitive, light-limited Eastern Great Plains. Ecotype differentiation was supported by random forest classification and PCA. We detected genetic differentiation and outlier genes associated primarily with precipitation. We identified candidate gene GA1 for which allele frequency associated with plant height. Sourcing of climate adapted ecotypes should be considered for restoration.</p>
Data from: Species-specific differences in adaptive phenotypic plasticity in an ecologically relevant trophic trait: hypertrophic lips in Midas cichlid fishes
The spectacular species richness of cichlids and their diversity in morphology, coloration, and behaviour have made them an ideal model for the study of speciation and adaptive evolution. Hypertrophic lips evolved repeatedly and independently in African and Neotropical cichlid radiations. Cichlids with hypertrophic lips forage predominantly in rocky crevices and it has been hypothesized that mechanical stress caused by friction could result in larger lips through phenotypic plasticity. To test the influence of the environment on the size and development of lips, we conducted a series of breeding and feeding experiments on Midas cichlids. Full-sibs of Amphilophus labiatus (thick-lipped) and A. citrinellus (thin-lipped) each were split into a control group which was fed food from the water column and a treatment group whose food was fixed to substrates. We found strong evidence for phenotypic plasticity on lip area in the thick-lipped species, but not in the thin-lipped species. Intermediate phenotypic values were observed in hybrids from thick- and thin-lipped species reared under "control" conditions. Thus, both a genetic, but also a phenotypic plastic component is involved in the development of hypertrophic lips in Neotropical cichlids. Moreover, species-specific adaptive phenotypic plasticity was found, suggesting that plasticity is selected for in recent thick-lipped species.
Data from: DNA methylation mediates genetic variation for adaptive transgenerational plasticity
Environmental stresses experienced by individual parents can influence offspring phenotypes in ways that enhance survival under similar conditions. Although such adaptive transgenerational plasticity is well documented, its transmission mechanisms are generally unknown. One possible mechanism is environmentally induced DNA methylation changes. We tested this hypothesis in the annual plant Polygonum persicaria, a species known to express adaptive transgenerational plasticity in response to parental drought stress. Replicate plants of 12 genetic lines (sampled from natural populations) were grown in dry versus moist soil. Their offspring were exposed to the demethylating agent zebularine or to control conditions during germination and then grown in dry soil. Under control germination conditions, the offspring of drought-stressed parents grew longer root systems and attained greater biomass compared with offspring of well-watered parents of the same genetic lines. Demethylation removed these adaptive developmental effects of parental drought, but did not significantly alter phenotypic expression in offspring of well-watered parents. The effect of demethylation on the expression of the parental drought effect varied among genetic lines. Differential seed provisioning did not contribute to the effect of parental drought on offspring phenotypes. These results demonstrate that DNA methylation can mediate adaptive, genotype-specific effects of parental stress on offspring phenotypes.
Data from: Does phenotypic plasticity for adult size versus food level in Drosophila melanogaster evolve in response to adaptation to different rearing densities?
Recent studies using inbred lines of Drosophila have suggested that there is extensive genetic variability for phenotypic plasticity of body size versus food level. If true, we expect that the outcome of evolution at very different food levels should yield genotypes whose adult sizes show different patterns of phenotypic plasticity. We have tested this prediction with six independent populations of Drosophila melanogaster kept at extreme (low vs. high) densities for 125 generations. We found that the phenotypic plasticity of body size versus food level is not affected by selection or the presence of competitors of a different genotype. However, we document increasing among population variation in phenotypic plasticity due to random genetic drift. Several reasons are explored to explain these results including the possibility that the use of highly inbred lines to make inferences about the evolution of genetically variable populations may be misleading.
Data from: Multiple simultaneous treatments change plant response from adaptive parental effects to within-generation plasticity, in Arabidopsis thaliana
In general, studies on plant phenotypic plasticity concentrate on plant responses to different levels of a single environmental factor. Under natural conditions, however, multiple environmental factors often vary simultaneously. I studied the consequences for lifetime fitness caused by single treatments or treatment combinations by investigating patterns of phenotypic plasticity within and between generations. The parental plants (3 genotypes of the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana) received zero, one or two stress treatments at an early life-stage. The treatments included wounding, shading, chilling, and their pairwise combinations. In the second generation, offspring of treated plants received either the parental or no treatment. Offspring of non-treated plants were reared under all treatment conditions. Plants responded strongly to the treatments, especially through delayed reproduction, which positively affected lifetime fitness. Notably, treatment combinations triggered stronger plastic responses on average. Because the delay in reproduction was offset by a delay in senescence, the treatments resulted in a fitness gain instead of a loss. However, under adverse environmental conditions, this delay represents a potential fitness cost, especially when the time for reproduction is limited. The treatments wounding and shading triggered parental effects that increased fitness only in plants that themselves received the treatment. Untreated offspring of wounded or shaded parents performed like control plants. Also, these parental effects were not accompanied by potential fitness costs, such as delayed reproduction. Chilling triggered genotype-specific parental effects that increased or reduced fitness. Of the treatment combinations only wounding and shading resulted in genotype-specific parental effects that increased or reduced fitness independently of offspring treatment. These results suggest that the response of annual plants to treatment combinations triggers predominantly within-generation plastic responses that include potential fitness costs, which cannot be inferred from studies that manipulate environmental factors individually. Therefore, single treatment studies likely underestimate the costs of plasticity in natural environments.
Data from: The evolution of epigenetically-mediated adaptive transgenerational plasticity in a subdivided population
Transgenerational plasticity (TGP) occurs when offspring exhibit plasticity in traits induced by the environments experienced by their parents, and represents a non-genetic mechanism of inheritance. Evidence that traits can be transmitted to future generations by means other than genetic inheritance has caused a surge of interest in epigenetic inheritance, but evidence for epigenetic modifications being both adaptive and heritable remains scarce. What features would make a species most prone to evolve a system of epigenetically-mediated adaptive TGP? Here we use population-genetic models modified to include epigenetic induction and inheritance to investigate if and when epigenetically-mediated adaptive TGP would be expected to evolve for a population subdivided between two habitats connected by migration. We show that differences in the direction of selection between the two habitats drives the evolution of epigenetically-mediated adaptive TGP. With low migration, the strength of indirect selection in favour of epigenetically-mediated adaptive TGP increases with migration rate. Yet, with higher migration, the opposite trend is observed. We predict that species subdivided between habitats that differ in the direction of selection with moderate migration rates between the habitats would be most likely to evolve epigenetically-mediated adaptive TGP if costs of producing such systems are not too high.
Supplementary material 2 from: Muraro M, Romagnoli S, Barzaghi B, Falaschi M, Manenti R, Ficetola GF (2021) Invasive predators induce plastic and adaptive responses during embryo development in a threatened frog. NeoBiota 70: 69-86. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.70.65454
Raw data
Phenotypic plasticity is aligned with phenological adaptation on micro- and macroevolutionary timescales
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>In seasonally-variable environments, phenotypic plasticity in phenology may be critical for adaptation to fluctuating environmental conditions. Using an 18-generation longitudinal dataset from natural damselfly populations, we show that phenology has strongly advanced. Individual fitness data suggest this is likely an adaptive response towards a temperature-dependent optimum. A laboratory experiment revealed that developmental plasticity qualitatively matches the temperature-dependence of selection, partially explaining observed advance in phenology. Expanding our analysis to the macroevolutionary level, we use a database of over 1-million occurrence records and spatiotemporally-matched temperature data from 49 Swedish Odonate species to infer macroevolutionary dynamics of phenology. Phenological plasticity was more closely aligned with adaptation for species that have recently colonized northern latitudes, but with higher phenological mismatch at lower latitudes. Our results show that phenological plasticity plays a key role in microevolutionary dynamics within a single species, and such plasticity may have facilitated post-Pleistocene range expansion in this insect clade. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Data from: Antagonistic responses of exposure to sublethal temperatures: adaptive phenotypic plasticity coincides with a reduction in organismal performance
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Data from: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 mediates adaptive developmental plasticity of hypoxia tolerance in zebrafish, Danio rerio
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Data from: DNA methylation mediates genetic variation for adaptive transgenerational plasticity
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Data from: Keeping your options open: maintenance of thermal plasticity during adaptation to a stable environment
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Data from: Does phenotypic plasticity for adult size versus food level in Drosophila melanogaster evolve in response to adaptation to different rearing densities?
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Data from: Phenotypic plasticity, but not adaptive tracking, underlies seasonal variation in post-cold hardening freeze tolerance of Drosophila melanogaster
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