Phenotypic plasticity rather than ecotypic differentiation explains the broad realized niche of a Neotropical orchid species.

Autor: de Lima TM; Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil., da Silva SF; Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.; Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Department of Plant Biology, Institute of Biology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil., Sánchez-Vilas J; Organisms and Environment Division, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, The Sir Martin Evans Building Museum Avenue, Cardiff, UK.; Departamento de Bioloxía Funcional, Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain., Júnior WLS; Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil., Mayer JLS; Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil., Ribeiro RV; Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.; Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Department of Plant Biology, Institute of Biology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil., Pinheiro F; Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany) [Plant Biol (Stuttg)] 2024 Oct; Vol. 26 (6), pp. 989-997. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 03.
DOI: 10.1111/plb.13684
Abstrakt: Local adaptation is common in plant species, and knowing whether a population is locally adapted has fundamental and applied relevance. However, local adaptation in tropical plants remains largely less studied, and covering this gap is not simple since reciprocal transplantation - the gold standard for detecting local adaptation - is not feasible for most species. Here, we combined genetic, climatic and phenotypic data to investigate ecotypic differentiation, an important aspect of local adaptation, in coastal and inland populations of the orchid Epidendrum fulgens Brongn., a long-lived tropical plant for which reciprocal transplantation would not be feasible. We used nine microsatellite markers to estimate genetic divergence between inland and coastal populations. Moreover, occurrence data and climate data were used to test for differences in the realized niche of those populations. Finally, we assessed saturated water content, leaf specific area, height, and stomatal density in common garden and in situ to investigate the effects of ecotypic differentiation and plasticity on the phenotype. Coastal and inland groups' niches do not overlap, the former occupying a wetter and warmer area. However, this differentiation does not seem to be driven by ecotypic differentiation since there was no positive correlation between genetic structure and climate dissimilarity. Moreover, specific leaf area and leaf saturated water content, which are important phenotypic traits related to soil fertility and drought stress, were rather plastic. We conclude that ecotypic differentiation is absent, since phenotypic plasticity is an important mechanism explaining the niche broadness of this species.
(© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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