Abstract
While life history, physiology and molecular phylogeny in plants have been widely studied, understanding how physiology changes with the evolution of life history change remains largely unknown. In two closely related understory Strobilanthes plants, the molecular phylogeny has previously shown that the monocarpic 6-year masting S. flexicaulis have evolved from a polycarpic perennial, represented by the basal clade S. tashiroi. The polycarpic S. tashiroi exhibited seasonal thermal acclimation with increased leaf respiratory and photosynthetic metabolism in winter, whereas the monocarpic S. flexicaulis showed no thermal acclimation. The monocarpic S. flexicaulis required rapid height growth after germination under high intraspecific competition, and the respiration and N allocation were biased toward nonphotosynthetic tissues. By contrast, in the long-lived polycarpic S. tashiroi, these allocations were biased toward photosynthetic tissues. The life-history differences between the monocarpic S. flexicaulis and the polycarpic S. tashiroi are represented by the “height growth” and “assimilation” paradigms, respectively, which are controlled by different patterns of respiration and nitrogen regulation in leaves. The obtained data indicate that the monocarpic S. flexicaulis with the evolutionary loss of thermal acclimation may exhibit increased vulnerability to global warming.
Highlights
While life history, physiology and molecular phylogeny in plants have been widely studied, understanding how physiology changes with the evolution of life history change remains largely unknown
We found that the monocarpic S. flexicaulis leaves did not show any seasonal acclimation in respiration and photosynthesis, whereas the polycarpic S. tashiroi leaves showed increased respiratory and photosynthetic faculties in winter
Our results indicate that the seasonal thermal acclimation in cell metabolism is involved in evolution of life history
Summary
Physiology and molecular phylogeny in plants have been widely studied, understanding how physiology changes with the evolution of life history change remains largely unknown. If the increasing air temperature exceed the optimum temperature for daily carbon gain in the whole plants beyond the range of thermal acclimation in cell metabolisms, such changes are projected to threaten survival of the plants. Species-specific thermal acclimation of cell metabolism, which is measured at a given temperature over seasons, could be considered a physiologically important determinant of the vulnerability of plant growth and survival under global warming. We examined two closely-related sympatric understory plants of the genus Strobilanthes species (Acathaceae), S. tashiroi Hayata and S. flexicaulis Hayata, in warm-temperate, overwintering evergreen forests in Japan (Fig. 1) They have contrasting life histories: S. tashiroi is a perennial herb with continuous flowering and non-masting behavior, whereas S. flexicaulis is a shrub with periodic monocarpic mass flowering and subsequent death every 6 years[22]. Molecular phylogeny shows that the periodical behavior of S. flexicaulis has locally evolved from the polycarpic behavior of S. tashiroi[23]
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