Levis Nicholas A, Ragsdale Erik J
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States.
Front Integr Neurosci. 2022 Feb 8;16:805061. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2022.805061. eCollection 2022.
Resource polyphenism-the occurrence of environmentally induced, discrete, and intraspecific morphs showing differential niche use-is taxonomically widespread and fundamental to the evolution of ecological function where it has arisen. Despite longstanding appreciation for the ecological and evolutionary significance of resource polyphenism, only recently have its proximate mechanisms begun to be uncovered. Polyphenism switches, especially those influencing and influenced by trophic interactions, offer a route to integrating proximate and ultimate causation in studies of plasticity, and its potential influence on evolution more generally. Here, we use the major events in generalized polyphenic development as a scaffold for linking the molecular mechanisms of polyphenic switching with potential evolutionary outcomes of polyphenism and for discussing challenges and opportunities at each step in this process. Not only does the study of resource polyphenism uncover interesting details of discrete plasticity, it also illuminates and informs general principles at the intersection of development, ecology, and evolution.
资源多型现象——即环境诱导产生的、离散的、种内形态各异且具有不同生态位利用方式的现象——在分类学上广泛存在，并且对于其出现之处的生态功能进化至关重要。尽管长期以来人们都认识到资源多型现象在生态和进化方面的重要意义，但直到最近其直接机制才开始被揭示。多型现象的转变，尤其是那些受营养相互作用影响以及影响营养相互作用的转变，为在可塑性研究中整合直接因果关系和终极因果关系提供了一条途径，更广泛地说，也为其对进化的潜在影响提供了途径。在此，我们以广义多型发育中的主要事件为框架，将多型转变的分子机制与多型现象的潜在进化结果联系起来，并讨论这一过程中每个步骤所面临的挑战和机遇。对资源多型现象的研究不仅揭示了离散可塑性的有趣细节，还阐明并告知了发育、生态和进化交叉领域的一般原理。
