Phenotypic Responses, Reproduction Mode and Epigenetic Patterns under Temperature Treatments in the Alpine Plant Species Ranunculus kuepferi (Ranunculaceae).

Eleni Syngelaki,Elvira Hörandl,Simone Klatt,Mareike Daubert

doi:10.3390/biology9100315

Eleni Syngelaki, Elvira Hörandl + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9100315

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Abstract

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. Ranunculus kuepferi, 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.

Highlights

Environment is well known to be a major factor, together with genotype, to influence the expression of a phenotype in living organisms [1]
We explored the effect of treatment on the reproduction mode of the species and the probability of a positive correlation between cold temperature and induction of apomixis, as previously reported by Klatt et al [41]
We focused on the number of leaves and number of flowers, as they were important for our hypotheses regarding the survival and the fitness of R. kuepferi

Summary

Introduction

Environment is well known to be a major factor, together with genotype, to influence the expression of a phenotype in living organisms [1]. Phenotypic plasticity is defined as the ability of an organism, as a single genotype, to differentially respond to environmental stimuli [5,6]. The alterations of the phenotype can be depicted in morphology, in physiology, in gene expression, as single changes, or as a combination of these characteristics of organisms [1,7,8,9,10]. The effect of phenotypic plasticity on plants, as sessile organisms, seems to be of great importance, regarding the acclimation to environmental conditions [1,11,12]. The adaptive value of phenotypic plasticity should not be considered eminent per se, as adaptation is a complex procedure that is implied by plastic responses that are beneficial and can be transmitted to generations [6,13,14]

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