Abstract
Cuticular wax covering the leaf surface plays important roles in protecting plants from biotic and abiotic stresses. Understanding the way in which plant leaf cuticles reflect their growing environment could give an insight into plant resilience to future climate change. Here, we analyzed the variations of cuticular waxes among 59 populations of Leymus chinensis in a common garden experiment, aiming to verify how environmental conditions influence the chemical profiles of cuticular waxes. In total, eight cuticular wax classes were identified, including fatty acids, aldehydes, primary alcohols, alkanes, secondary alcohols, ketones, β‐diketones, and alkylresorcinols, with β‐diketones the predominant compounds in all populations (averaged 67.36% across all populations). Great intraspecific trait variations (ITV) were observed for total wax coverage, wax compositions, and the relative abundance of homologues within each wax class. Cluster analysis based on wax characteristics could separate 59 populations into different clades. However, the populations could not be separated according to their original longitudes, latitudes, annual temperature, or annual precipitation. Redundancy analysis showed that latitude, arid index, and the precipitation from June to August were the most important parameters contributing to the variations of the amount of total wax coverage and wax composition and the relative abundance of wax classes. Pearson's correlation analysis further indicated that the relative abundance of wax classes, homologues in each wax class, and even isomers of certain compound differed in their responses to environmental factors. These results suggested that wax deposition patterns of L. chinensis populations formed during adaptations to their long‐term growing environments could inherit in their progenies and exhibit such inheritance even these progenies were exported to new environments.
Highlights
Plants are sessile organisms, which have evolved the abilities to capture and utilize resources under changing environments
In order to determine whether cuticular wax in L. chinensis exhibits similar or different patterns of local adaptation across their distributions, in this study, we selected 59 populations distributed in different environments, aiming to verify how environmental conditions could influence the chemical profiles of cuticular waxes in L. chinensis in a common garden experiment
High intraspecific trait variations (ITV) was observed among populations of L. chinensis for total wax coverage, wax compositions, and the relative abundance of wax homologues within each wax class when tested in a common garden experiment
Summary
Plants are sessile organisms, which have evolved the abilities to capture and utilize resources under changing environments During this evolution process, plastic variations of functional traits enable the plants to survive through different growth conditions and to exhibit adaptive differentiation of plant populations in response to differing climates (van Kleunen & Fischer, 2005). Rafii, and Power (1998) reported that annual rainfall was the most significant factor in regressions with the shorter-chain hydrocarbons whereas annual mean temperature was most significant for the longer-chain hydrocarbons These reports implied that plant populations growing under different environments might exhibit intraspecific variations of wax profiles. In order to determine whether cuticular wax in L. chinensis exhibits similar or different patterns of local adaptation across their distributions, in this study, we selected 59 populations distributed in different environments, aiming to verify how environmental conditions could influence the chemical profiles of cuticular waxes in L. chinensis in a common garden experiment. | 545 variability in leaf wax production and chain length distributions of L. chinensis might be genetic differentiation of plant leaf cuticular waxes
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