Syngelaki Eleni, Daubert Mareike, Klatt Simone, Hörandl Elvira
Albrecht-von-Haller-Institute for Plant Sciences, Department of Systematics, Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants (with Herbarium), Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany.
Biology (Basel). 2020 Sep 29;9(10):315. doi: 10.3390/biology9100315.
Plant life in alpine habitats is shaped by harsh abiotic conditions and cold climates. Phenotypic variation of morphological characters and reproduction can be influenced by temperature stress. Nevertheless, little is known about the performance of different cytotypes under cold stress and how epigenetic patterns could relate to phenotypic variation. , a perennial alpine plant, served as a model system for testing the effect of cold stress on phenotypic plasticity, reproduction mode, and epigenetic variation. Diploid and autotetraploid individuals were placed in climate growth cabinets under warm and cold conditions. Morphological traits (height, leaves and flowers) and the proportion of well-developed seeds were measured as fitness indicators, while flow cytometric seed screening (FCSS) was utilized to determine the reproduction mode. Subsequently, comparisons with patterns of methylation-sensitive amplified fragment-length polymorphisms (AFLPs) were conducted. Diploids grew better under warm conditions, while tetraploids performed better in cold treatments. Epigenetic patterns were correlated with the expressed morphological traits. Cold stress reduced the reproduction fitness but did not induce apomixis in diploids. Overall, our study underlines the potential of phenotypic plasticity for acclimation under environmental conditions and confirms the different niche preferences of cytotypes in natural populations. Results help to understand the pattern of geographical parthenogenesis in the species.
高山栖息地的植物生命受恶劣的非生物条件和寒冷气候影响。形态特征和繁殖的表型变异可能受温度胁迫影响。然而，对于不同细胞型在冷胁迫下的表现以及表观遗传模式如何与表型变异相关，我们知之甚少。[一种多年生高山植物]作为测试冷胁迫对表型可塑性、繁殖模式和表观遗传变异影响的模型系统。将二倍体和同源四倍体个体置于温暖和寒冷条件下的气候生长箱中。测量形态特征（高度、叶子和花朵）以及发育良好种子的比例作为适合度指标，同时利用流式细胞术种子筛选（FCSS）来确定繁殖模式。随后，与甲基化敏感扩增长度多态性（AFLP）模式进行比较。二倍体在温暖条件下生长得更好，而四倍体在冷处理中表现更佳。表观遗传模式与所表达的形态特征相关。冷胁迫降低了繁殖适合度，但未在二倍体中诱导无融合生殖。总体而言，我们的研究强调了表型可塑性在环境条件下适应的潜力，并证实了自然种群中细胞型的不同生态位偏好。研究结果有助于理解该物种的地理孤雌生殖模式。
