Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
Department of Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2018 Jan;2(1):100-107. doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0373-6. Epub 2017 Nov 27.
Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an individual genotype to alter aspects of its phenotype depending on the current environment. It is central to the persistence, resistance and resilience of populations facing variation in physical or biological factors. Genetic variation in plasticity is pervasive, which suggests its local adaptation is plausible. Existing studies on the adaptation of plasticity typically focus on single traits and a few populations, while theory about interactions among genes (for example, pleiotropy) suggests that a multi-trait, landscape scale (for example, multiple populations) perspective is required. We present data from a landscape scale, replicated, multi-trait experiment using a classic predator-prey system centred on the water flea Daphnia pulex. We find predator regime-driven differences in genetic variation of multivariate plasticity. These differences are associated with strong divergent selection linked to a predation regime. Our findings are evidence for local adaptation of plasticity, suggesting that responses of populations to environmental variation depend on the conditions in which they evolved in the past.
表型可塑性是指个体基因型根据当前环境改变其表型某些方面的能力。它是面对物理或生物因素变化的种群持续存在、抵抗和恢复力的核心。可塑性的遗传变异是普遍存在的，这表明其局部适应是合理的。现有关于可塑性适应的研究通常集中在单一特征和少数种群上，而关于基因相互作用的理论（例如，多效性）表明，需要从多特征、景观尺度（例如，多个种群）的角度来看待这个问题。我们提出了来自景观尺度、复制、多特征实验的数据，该实验使用以水蚤 Daphnia pulex 为中心的经典捕食者-猎物系统。我们发现，多变量可塑性的遗传变异存在由捕食者统治驱动的差异。这些差异与强烈的分歧选择有关，这种选择与捕食者的统治有关。我们的研究结果为可塑性的局部适应提供了证据，表明种群对环境变化的反应取决于它们过去在何种条件下进化的。
