Weber de Melo Vanessa, Lowe Robert, Hurd Paul J, Petchey Owen L
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland.
The Blizard Institute Queen Mary University of London London UK.
Ecol Evol. 2020 Jul 1;10(14):7616-7626. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6486. eCollection 2020 Jul.
Understanding the effects of temperature on ecological and evolutionary processes is crucial for generating future climate adaptation scenarios. Using experimental evolution, we evolved the model ciliate in an initially novel high temperature environment for more than 35 generations, closely monitoring population dynamics and morphological changes. We observed initially long lag phases in the high temperature environment that over about 26 generations reduced to no lag phase, a strong reduction in cell size and modifications in cell shape at high temperature. When exposing the adapted populations to their original temperature, most phenotypic traits returned to the observed levels in the ancestral populations, indicating phenotypic plasticity is an important component of this species thermal stress response. However, persistent changes in cell size were detected, indicating possible costs related to the adaptation process. Exploring the molecular basis of thermal adaptation will help clarify the mechanisms driving these phenotypic responses.
了解温度对生态和进化过程的影响对于制定未来气候适应方案至关重要。通过实验进化，我们在一个最初全新的高温环境中使模式纤毛虫进化了35代以上，密切监测种群动态和形态变化。我们观察到在高温环境中最初有很长的滞后期，经过约26代后滞后期减少到无滞后期，细胞大小显著减小，且在高温下细胞形状发生改变。当将适应后的种群置于其原始温度时，大多数表型特征恢复到祖先种群中观察到的水平，这表明表型可塑性是该物种热应激反应的重要组成部分。然而，检测到细胞大小存在持续变化，这表明适应过程可能存在相关代价。探索热适应的分子基础将有助于阐明驱动这些表型反应的机制。
