Caso-McHugh Theresa, Des Marais David L, Oseguera Miranda, Blumstein Meghan
Civil and Environmental Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts USA.
Department of Environmental Sciences University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USA.
Plant Environ Interact. 2025 Aug 4;6(4):e70078. doi: 10.1002/pei3.70078. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Climate change is driving earlier spring leaf-out across temperate regions, but the genetic mechanisms and environmental interactions underlying this variability are poorly understood. We conducted a controlled growth chamber experiment using excised northern red oak ( ) branches, testing the influence of temperature and photoperiod on leaf development. Two genotypes of red oak were exposed to four different warming and daylength treatments, and gene expression was analyzed across stages of bud development. Results revealed significant phenotypic differences between genotypes and across treatments, confirming that leaf-out timing is both genetically determined and environmentally responsive. Our analysis identified several key genes involved in dormancy break and photoperiod sensitivity, including orthologs to genes identified in species, suggesting conserved pathways across tree species. These genes were differentially expressed in response to environmental factors, highlighting the polygenic nature of phenological timing. Notably, modules associated with temperature and photoperiod showed overlap with dormancy break pathways, indicating shared regulatory networks. This study provides a foundational dataset for understanding phenology in red oak and offers insights into how genetic and environmental factors shape leaf development in temperate trees, setting the stage for further functional genomic research.
气候变化正在促使温带地区的树木春季提前展叶，但对于这种变化背后的遗传机制和环境相互作用，我们却知之甚少。我们利用北方红栎（ ）的离体枝条进行了一项可控生长室实验，测试温度和光周期对叶片发育的影响。将两种红栎基因型暴露于四种不同的升温及日长处理条件下，并在芽发育的各个阶段分析基因表达情况。结果显示，不同基因型之间以及不同处理之间均存在显著的表型差异，证实展叶时间既由遗传决定，也受环境影响。我们的分析确定了几个参与休眠解除和光周期敏感性的关键基因，包括在 物种中鉴定出的基因的直系同源基因，这表明树木物种间存在保守的途径。这些基因因环境因素而差异表达，凸显了物候时间的多基因性质。值得注意的是，与温度和光周期相关的模块与休眠解除途径存在重叠，表明存在共享的调控网络。本研究为理解红栎的物候提供了基础数据集，并深入探讨了遗传和环境因素如何塑造温带树木的叶片发育，为进一步的功能基因组研究奠定了基础。
