Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2024 Jan 30;20(1):e1011823. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011823. eCollection 2024 Jan.
Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of a single genotype to produce distinct phenotypes under different environmental conditions, has become a leading concept in ecology and evolutionary biology, with the most extreme examples being the formation of alternative phenotypes (polyphenisms). However, several aspects associated with phenotypic plasticity remain controversial, such as the existence of associated costs. While already predicted by some of the pioneers of plasticity research, i.e. Schmalhausen and Bradshaw, experimental and theoretical approaches have provided limited support for the costs of plasticity. In experimental studies, one common restriction is the measurement of all relevant parameters over long time periods. Similarly, theoretical studies rarely use modelling approaches that incorporate specific experimentally-derived fitness parameters. Therefore, the existence of the costs of plasticity remains disputed. Here, we provide an integrative approach to understand the cost of adaptive plasticity and its ecological ramifications, by combining laboratory data from the nematode plasticity model system Pristionchus pacificus with a stage-structured population model. Taking advantage of measurements of two isogenic strains grown on two distinct diets, we illustrate how spatial and temporal heterogeneity with regard to the distribution of resources on a metapopulation can alter the outcome of the competition and alleviate the realized cost of plasticity.
表型可塑性，即在不同环境条件下，单一基因型产生不同表型的能力，已成为生态学和进化生物学中的一个主要概念，其最极端的例子是形成替代表型（多态现象）。然而，与表型可塑性相关的几个方面仍然存在争议，例如是否存在相关成本。尽管一些可塑性研究的先驱者，如 Schmalhausen 和 Bradshaw，已经预测到了这一点，但实验和理论方法仅为可塑性成本提供了有限的支持。在实验研究中，一个常见的限制是在长时间内测量所有相关参数。同样，理论研究很少使用包含特定实验衍生的适合度参数的建模方法。因此，可塑性成本的存在仍然存在争议。在这里，我们通过将线虫可塑性模型系统 Pristionchus pacificus 的实验室数据与一个具有阶段结构的种群模型相结合，提供了一种综合方法来理解适应可塑性的成本及其生态后果。利用在两种不同饮食上生长的两个同基因株系的测量值，我们说明了在局域种群中资源分布的空间和时间异质性如何改变竞争的结果，并减轻了可塑性的实际成本。
