Adaptation to an extraordinary environment by evolution of phenotypic plasticity and genetic assimilation

Epigenetic mutations can both help and hinder adaptive evolution

Epigenetic variation is being integrated into our understanding of adaptation, yet we lack models on how epigenetic mutations affect evolution that includes de novo genetic change. We model the effects of epigenetic mutations on the dynamics and endpoints of adaptive walks-a process where a series of beneficial mutations move a population towards a fitness optimum. We use an individual-based model of an asexual population, where mutational effects are drawn from Fisher's geometric model. We find cases where epigenetic mutations speed adaptation or result in populations with higher fitness. However, we also find cases where they slow adaptation or result in populations with lower fitness. The effect of epigenetic mutations on adaptive walks depends crucially on their stability and fitness effects relative to genetic mutations, with small-effect epigenetic mutations generally speeding adaptation, and epigenetic mutations with the same fitness effects as genetic mutations slowing adaptation. Our work reveals a complex relationship between epigenetic mutations and natural selection and highlights the need for empirical data.

The ubiquity of phenotypic plasticity in plants: a synthesis

Adaptation to heterogeneous environments can occur via phenotypic plasticity, but how often this occurs is unknown. Reciprocal transplant studies provide a rich dataset to address this issue in plant populations because they allow for a determination of the prevalence of plastic versus canalized responses. From 31 reciprocal transplant studies, we quantified the frequency of five possible evolutionary patterns: (1) canalized response–no differentiation: no plasticity, the mean phenotypes of the populations are not different; (2) canalized response–population differentiation: no plasticity, the mean phenotypes of the populations are different; (3) perfect adaptive plasticity: plastic responses with similar reaction norms between populations; (4) adaptive plasticity: plastic responses with parallel, but not congruent reaction norms between populations; and (5) nonadaptive plasticity: plastic responses with differences in the slope of the reaction norms. The analysis included 362 records: 50.8% life-history traits, 43.6% morphological traits, and 5.5% physiological traits. Across all traits, 52% of the trait records were not plastic, and either showed no difference in means across sites (17%) or differed among sites (83%). Among the 48% of trait records that showed some sort of plasticity, 49.4% showed perfect adaptive plasticity, 19.5% adaptive plasticity, and 31% nonadaptive plasticity. These results suggest that canalized responses are more common than adaptive plasticity as an evolutionary response to environmental heterogeneity.

Variation in spawning time promotes genetic variability in population responses to environmental change in a marine fish

The level of phenotypic plasticity displayed within a population (i.e. the slope of the reaction norm) reflects the short-term response of a population to environmental change, while variation in reaction norm slopes among populations reflects spatial variation in these responses. Thus far, studies of thermal reaction norm variation have focused on geographically driven adaptation among different latitudes, altitudes or habitats. Yet, thermal variability is a function of both space and time. For organisms that reproduce at different times of year, such variation has the potential to promote adaptive variability in thermal responses for critical early life stages. Using common-garden experiments, we examined the spatial scale of genetic variation in thermal plasticity for early life-history traits among five populations of endangered Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) that spawn at different times of year. Patterns of plasticity for larval growth and survival suggest that population responses to climate change will differ substantially, with increasing water temperatures posing a considerably greater threat to autumn-spawning cod than to those that spawn in winter or spring. Adaptation to seasonal cooling or warming experienced during the larval stage is suggested as a possible cause. Furthermore, populations that experience relatively cold temperatures during early life might be more sensitive to changes in temperature. Substantial divergence in adaptive traits was evident at a smaller spatial scale than has previously been shown for a marine fish with no apparent physical barriers to gene flow (∼200 km). Our findings highlight the need to consider the impact of intraspecific variation in reproductive timing on thermal adaptation when forecasting the effects of climate change on animal populations.

The contribution of phenotypic plasticity to the evolution of insecticide tolerance in amphibian populations

Understanding population responses to rapid environmental changes caused by anthropogenic activities, such as pesticides, is a research frontier. Genetic assimilation (GA), a process initiated by phenotypic plasticity, is one mechanism potentially influencing evolutionary responses to novel environments. While theoretical and laboratory research suggests that GA has the potential to influence evolutionary trajectories, few studies have assessed its role in the evolution of wild populations experiencing novel environments. Using the insecticide, carbaryl, and 15 wood frog populations distributed across an agricultural gradient, we tested whether GA contributed to the evolution of pesticide tolerance. First, we investigated the evidence for evolved tolerance to carbaryl and discovered that population-level patterns of tolerance were consistent with evolutionary responses to pesticides; wood frog populations living closer to agriculture were more tolerant than populations living far from agriculture. Next, we tested the potential role of GA in the evolution of pesticide tolerance by assessing whether patterns of tolerance were consistent with theoretical predictions. We found that populations close to agriculture displayed constitutive tolerance to carbaryl whereas populations far from agriculture had low naïve tolerance but high magnitudes of induced tolerance. These results suggest GA could play a role in evolutionary responses to novel environments in nature.

Trait-based analysis of decline in plant species ranges during the 20th century: a regional comparison between the UK and Estonia

Although the distribution ranges and abundance of many plant species have declined dramatically in recent decades, detailed analysis of these changes and their cause have only become possible following the publication of second- and third-generation national distribution atlases. Decline can now be compared both between species and in different parts of species' ranges. We extracted data from distribution atlases to compare range persistence of 736 plant species common to both the UK and Estonia between survey periods encompassing almost the same years (1969 and 1999 in the UK and 1970 and 2004 in Estonia). We determined which traits were most closely associated with variation in species persistence, whether these were the same in each country, and the extent to which they explained differences in persistence between the countries. Mean range size declined less in Estonia than in the UK (24.3% vs. 30.3%). One-third of species in Estonia (239) maintained >90% of their distribution range compared with one-fifth (141) in the UK. In Estonia, 99 species lost >50% of their range compared with 127 species in the UK. Persistence was very positively related to original range in both countries. Major differences in species persistence between the studied countries were primarily determined by biogeographic (affiliation to floristic element) and ecoevolutionary (plant strategy) factors. In contrast, within-country persistence was most strongly determined by tolerance of anthropogenic activities. Decline of species in the families Orchidaceae and Potamogetonaceae was significantly greater in the UK than in Estonia. Almost all of the 736 common and native European plant species in our study are currently declining in their range due to pressure from anthropogenic activities. Those species with low tolerance of human activity, with biotic pollination vectors and in the families referred to above are the most vulnerable, especially where human population density is high.

Inbreeding and adaptive plasticity: an experimental analysis on predator-induced responses in the water flea Daphnia

Several studies have emphasized that inbreeding depression (ID) is enhanced under stressful conditions. Additionally, one might imagine a loss of adaptively plastic responses which may further contribute to a reduction in fitness under environmental stress. Here, we quantified ID in inbred families of the cyclical parthenogen Daphnia magna in the absence and presence of fish predation risk. We test whether predator stress affects the degree of ID and if inbred families have a reduced capacity to respond to predator stress by adaptive phenotypic plasticity. We obtained two inbred families through clonal selfing within clones isolated from a fish pond. After mild purging under standardized conditions, we compared life history traits and adaptive plasticity between inbred and outbred lineages (directly hatched from the natural dormant egg bank of the same pond). Initial purging of lineages under standardized conditions differed among inbred families and exceeded that in outbreds. The least purged inbred family exhibited strong ID for most life history traits. Predator-induced stress hardly affected the severity of ID, but the degree to which the capacity for adaptive phenotypic plasticity was retained varied strongly among the inbred families. The least purged family overall lacked the capacity for adaptive phenotypic plasticity, whereas the family that suffered only mild purging exhibited a potential for adaptive plasticity that was comparable to the outbred population. We thus found that inbred offspring may retain the capacity to respond to the presence of fish by adaptive phenotypic plasticity, but this strongly depends on the parental clone engaging in selfing.

When to rely on maternal effects and when on phenotypic plasticity?

Existing insight suggests that maternal effects have a substantial impact on evolution, yet these predictions assume that maternal effects themselves are evolutionarily constant. Hence, it is poorly understood how natural selection shapes maternal effects in different ecological circumstances. To overcome this, the current study derives an evolutionary model of maternal effects in a quantitative genetics context. In constant environments, we show that maternal effects evolve to slight negative values that result in a reduction of the phenotypic variance (canalization). By contrast, in populations experiencing abrupt change, maternal effects transiently evolve to positive values for many generations, facilitating the transmission of beneficial maternal phenotypes to offspring. In periodically fluctuating environments, maternal effects evolve according to the autocorrelation between maternal and offspring environments, favoring positive maternal effects when change is slow, and negative maternal effects when change is rapid. Generally, the strongest maternal effects occur for traits that experience very strong selection and for which plasticity is severely constrained. By contrast, for traits experiencing weak selection, phenotypic plasticity enhances the evolutionary scope of maternal effects, although maternal effects attain much smaller values throughout. As weak selection is common, finding substantial maternal influences on offspring phenotypes may be more challenging than anticipated.

Phenotype adjustment promotes adaptive evolution in a game without conflict

Organisms may adjust their phenotypes in response to social and physical environments. Such phenotypic plasticity is known to help or retard adaptive evolution. Here, we study the evolutionary outcomes of adaptive phenotypic plasticity in an evolutionary game involving two players who have no conflicts of interest. A possible example is the growth and sex allocation of a lifelong pair of shrimps entrapped in the body of a sponge. We consider random pair formation, the limitation of total resources for growth, and the needs of male investment to fertilize eggs laid by the partner. We compare the following three different evolutionary dynamics: (1) No adjustment: each individual develops a phenotype specified by its own genotype; (2) One-player adjustment: the phenotype of the first player is specified by its own genotype, and the second player chooses the phenotype that maximizes its own fitness; (3) Two-player adjustment: the first player exhibits an initial phenotype specified by its own genotype, the second player chooses a phenotype given that of the first player, and finally, the first player readjusts its phenotype given that of the second player. We demonstrate that both one-player and two-player adjustments evolve to achieve maximum fitness. In contrast, the dynamics without adjustment fails in some cases to evolve outcomes with the highest fitness. For an intermediate range of male cost, the evolution of no adjustment realizes two hermaphrodites with equal size, whereas the one-player and two-player adjustments realize a small male and a large female.

Rapid diversification associated with a macroevolutionary pulse of developmental plasticity

Developmental plasticity has been proposed to facilitate phenotypic diversification in plants and animals, but the macroevolutionary potential of plastic traits remains to be objectively tested. We studied the evolution of feeding structures in a group of 90 nematodes, including Caenorhabditis elegans, some species of which have evolved a mouthpart polyphenism, moveable teeth, and predatory feeding. Comparative analyses of shape and form, using geometric morphometrics, and of structural complexity revealed a rapid process of diversification associated with developmental plasticity. First, dimorphism was associated with a sharp increase in complexity and elevated evolutionary rates, represented by a radiation of feeding-forms with structural novelties. Second, the subsequent assimilation of a single phenotype coincided with a decrease in mouthpart complexity but an even stronger increase in evolutionary rates. Our results suggest that a macroevolutionary 'pulse' of plasticity promotes novelties and, even after the secondary fixation of phenotypes, permits sustained rapid exploration of morphospace.

Ontogenetic changes in genetic variances of age-dependent plasticity along a latitudinal gradient

The expression of phenotypic plasticity may differ among life stages of the same organism. Age-dependent plasticity can be important for adaptation to heterogeneous environments, but this has only recently been recognized. Whether age-dependent plasticity is a common outcome of local adaptation and whether populations harbor genetic variation in this respect remains largely unknown. To answer these questions, we estimated levels of additive genetic variation in age-dependent plasticity in six species of damselflies sampled from 18 populations along a latitudinal gradient spanning 3600 km. We reared full sib larvae at three temperatures and estimated genetic variances in the height and slope of thermal reaction norms of body size at three points in time during ontogeny using random regression. Our data show that most populations harbor genetic variation in growth rate (reaction norm height) in all ontogenetic stages, but only some populations and ontogenetic stages were found to harbor genetic variation in thermal plasticity (reaction norm slope). Genetic variances in reaction norm height differed among species, while genetic variances in reaction norm slope differed among populations. The slope of the ontogenetic trend in genetic variances of both reaction norm height and slope increased with latitude. We propose that differences in genetic variances reflect temporal and spatial variation in the strength and direction of natural selection on growth trajectories and age-dependent plasticity. Selection on age-dependent plasticity may depend on the interaction between temperature seasonality and time constraints associated with variation in life history traits such as generation length.

Evolution of phenotypic plasticity in colonizing species

I elaborate an hypothesis to explain inconsistent empirical findings comparing phenotypic plasticity in colonizing populations or species with plasticity from their native or ancestral range. Quantitative genetic theory on the evolution of plasticity reveals that colonization of a novel environment can cause a transient increase in plasticity: a rapid initial increase in plasticity accelerates evolution of a new optimal phenotype, followed by slow genetic assimilation of the new phenotype and reduction of plasticity. An association of colonization with increased plasticity depends on the difference in the optimal phenotype between ancestral and colonized environments, the difference in mean, variance and predictability of the environment, the cost of plasticity, and the time elapsed since colonization. The relative importance of these parameters depends on whether a phenotypic character develops by one-shot plasticity to a constant adult phenotype or by labile plasticity involving continuous and reversible development throughout adult life.

What we still don't know about invasion genetics

Publication of The Genetics of Colonizing Species in 1965 launched the field of invasion genetics and highlighted the value of biological invasions as natural ecological and evolutionary experiments. Here, we review the past 50 years of invasion genetics to assess what we have learned and what we still don't know, focusing on the genetic changes associated with invasive lineages and the evolutionary processes driving these changes. We also suggest potential studies to address still-unanswered questions. We now know, for example, that rapid adaptation of invaders is common and generally not limited by genetic variation. On the other hand, and contrary to prevailing opinion 50 years ago, the balance of evidence indicates that population bottlenecks and genetic drift typically have negative effects on invasion success, despite their potential to increase additive genetic variation and the frequency of peak shifts. Numerous unknowns remain, such as the sources of genetic variation, the role of so-called expansion load and the relative importance of propagule pressure vs. genetic diversity for successful establishment. While many such unknowns can be resolved by genomic studies, other questions may require manipulative experiments in model organisms. Such studies complement classical reciprocal transplant and field-based selection experiments, which are needed to link trait variation with components of fitness and population growth rates. We conclude by discussing the potential for studies of invasion genetics to reveal the limits to evolution and to stimulate the development of practical strategies to either minimize or maximize evolutionary responses to environmental change.

Reciprocal osmotic challenges reveal mechanisms of divergence in phenotypic plasticity in the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus

The killifish Fundulus heteroclitus is an estuarine species with broad physiological plasticity enabling acclimation to diverse stressors. Previous work suggests freshwater populations expanded their physiology to accommodate low salinity environments, however, it is unknown if this compromises their tolerance to high salinity. We employed a comparative approach to investigate the mechanisms of a derived freshwater phenotype and the fate of an ancestral euryhaline phenotype after invasion of a freshwater environment. We compared physiological and transcriptomic responses to high and low salinity stress in fresh and brackish water populations and found an enhanced plasticity to low salinity in the freshwater population coupled with a reduced ability to acclimate to high salinity. Transcriptomic data identified genes with a conserved common response, a conserved salinity dependent response, and responses associated with population divergence. Conserved common acclimation responses revealed stress responses and alterations in cell-cycle regulation as important mechanisms in the general osmotic response. Salinity-specific responses included the regulation of genes involved in ion transport, intracellular calcium, energetic processes, and cellular remodeling. Genes diverged between populations were primarily those showing salinity-specific expression and included those regulating polyamine homeostasis and cell cycle. Additionally, when populations were matched with their native salinity, expression patterns were consistent with the concept of “transcriptomic resilience,” suggesting local adaptation. These findings provide insight into the fate of a plastic phenotype after a shift in environmental salinity and help to reveal mechanisms allowing for euryhalinity.

Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in wild samples of two morphotypes of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation play important biological roles in gene expression regulation and cellular differentiation during development. To examine whether DNA methylation patterns are potentially associated with naturally occurring phenotypic differences, we examined genome-wide DNA methylation within Gasterosteus aculeatus, using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing. First, we identified highly methylated regions of the stickleback genome, finding such regions to be located predominantly within genes, and associated with genes functioning in metabolism and biosynthetic processes, cell adhesion, signaling pathways, and blood vessel development. Next, we identified putative differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of the genome between complete and low lateral plate morphs of G. aculeatus. We detected 77 DMRs that were mainly located in intergenic regions. Annotations of genes associated with these DMRs revealed potential functions in a number of known divergent adaptive phenotypes between G. aculeatus ecotypes, including cardiovascular development, growth, and neuromuscular development.

Cooperation between phenotypic plasticity and genetic mutations can account for the cumulative selection in evolution

We propose the cooperative model of phenotype-driven evolution, in which natural selection operates on a phenotype caused by both genetic and epigenetic factors. The conventional theory of evolutionary synthesis assumes that a phenotypic value (P) is the sum of genotypic value (G) and environmental deviation (E), P=G+E, where E is the fluctuations of the phenotype among individuals in the absence of environmental changes. In contrast, the cooperative model assumes that an evolution is triggered by an environmental change and individuals respond to the change by phenotypic plasticity (epigenetic changes). The phenotypic plasticity, while essentially qualitative, is denoted by a quantitative value F which is modeled as a normal random variable like E, but with a much larger variance. Thus, the fundamental equation of the cooperative model is given as P=G+F where F includes the effect of E. Computer simulations using a genetic algorithm demonstrated that the cooperative model realized much faster evolution than the evolutionary synthesis. This accelerated evolution was found to be due to the cumulative evolution made possible by a ratchet mechanism due to the epigenetic contribution to the phenotypic value. The cooperative model can well account for the phenomenon of genetic assimilation, which, in turn, suggests the mechanism of cumulative selection. The cooperative model may also serve as a theoretical basis to understand various ideas and phenomena of the phenotype-driven evolution such as genetic assimilation, the theory of facilitated phenotypic variation, and epigenetic inheritance over generations.

Speciation in Freshwater Fishes

The extraordinary species richness of freshwater fishes has attracted much research on mechanisms and modes of speciation. We here review research on speciation in freshwater fishes in light of speciation theory, and place this in a context of broad-scale diversity patterns in freshwater fishes. We discuss several major repeated themes in freshwater fish speciation and the speciation mechanisms they are frequently associated with. These include transitions between marine and freshwater habitats, transitions between discrete freshwater habitats, and ecological transitions within habitats, as well as speciation without distinct niche shifts. Major research directions in the years to come include understanding the transition from extrinsic environment-dependent to intrinsic reproductive isolation and its influences on species persistence and understanding the extrinsic and intrinsic constraints to speciation and how these relate to broad-scale diversification patterns through time.

The temporal distribution of directional gradients under selection for an optimum

Temporal variation in phenotypic selection is often attributed to environmental change causing movements of the adaptive surface relating traits to fitness, but this connection is rarely established empirically. Fluctuating phenotypic selection can be measured by the variance and autocorrelation of directional selection gradients through time. However, the dynamics of these gradients depend not only on environmental changes altering the fitness surface, but also on evolution of the phenotypic distribution. Therefore, it is unclear to what extent variability in selection gradients can inform us about the underlying drivers of their fluctuations. To investigate this question, we derive the temporal distribution of directional gradients under selection for a phenotypic optimum that is either constant or fluctuates randomly in various ways in a finite population. Our analytical results, combined with population- and individual-based simulations, show that although some characteristic patterns can be distinguished, very different types of change in the optimum (including a constant optimum) can generate similar temporal distributions of selection gradients, making it difficult to infer the processes underlying apparent fluctuating selection. Analyzing changes in phenotype distributions together with changes in selection gradients should prove more useful for inferring the mechanisms underlying estimated fluctuating selection.

Why are individuals so different from each other?

An important contributor to the differences between individuals derives from their plasticity. Such plasticity is widespread in organisms from the simple to the most complex. Adaptability plasticity enables the organism to cope with a novel challenge not previously encountered by its ancestors. Conditional plasticity appears to have evolved from repeated challenges from the environment so that the organism responds in a particular manner to the environment in which it finds itself. The resulting phenotypic variation can be triggered during development in a variety of ways, some mediated through the parent's phenotype. Sometimes the organism copes in suboptimal conditions trading off reproductive success against survival. Whatever the adaptedness of the phenotype, each of the many types of plasticity demonstrates how a given genotype will express itself differently in different environmental conditions-a field of biology referred to as the study of epigenetics. The ways in which epigenetic mechanisms may have evolved are discussed, as are the potential impacts on the evolution of their descendants.

Plasticity-mediated persistence in new and changing environments

Baldwin's synthesis of the Organicist position, first published in 1896 and elaborated in 1902, sought to rescue environmentally induced phenotypes from disrepute by showing their Darwinian significance. Of particular interest to Baldwin was plasticity's mediating role during environmental change or colonization—plastic individuals were more likely to successfully survive and reproduce in new environments than were nonplastic individuals. Once a population of plastic individuals had become established, plasticity could further mediate the future course of evolution. The evidence for plasticity-mediated persistence (PMP) is reviewed here with a particular focus on evolutionary rescue experiments, studies on invasive success, and the role of learning in survival. Many PMP studies are methodologically limited, showing that preexistent plasticity has utility in new environments (soft PMP) rather than directly demonstrating that plasticity is responsible for persistence (hard PMP). An ideal PMP study would be able to demonstrate that (1) plasticity preexisted environmental change, (2) plasticity was fortuitously beneficial in the new environment, (3) plasticity was responsible for individual persistence in the new environment, and (4) plasticity was responsible for population persistence in succeeding generations. Although PMP is not ubiquitous, Baldwin's hypotheses have been largely vindicated in theoretical and empirical studies, but much work remains.

Functional genomics of acclimation and adaptation in response to thermal stress in Daphnia

Background

Gene expression regulation is one of the fundamental mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity and is expected to respond to selection in conditions favoring phenotypic response. The observation that many organisms increase their stress tolerance after acclimation to moderate levels of stress is an example of plasticity which has been long hypothesized to be based on adaptive changes in gene expression. We report genome-wide patterns of gene expression in two heat-tolerant and two heat-sensitive parthenogenetic clones of the zooplankton crustacean Daphnia pulex exposed for three generations to either optimal (18°C) or substressful (28°C) temperature.

Results

A large number of genes responded to temperature and many demonstrated a significant genotype-by-environment (GxE) interaction. Among genes with a significant GxE there were approximately equally frequent instances of canalization, i.e. stronger plasticity in heat-sensitive than in heat-tolerant clones, and of enhancement of plasticity along the evolutionary vector toward heat tolerance. The strongest response observed is the across-the-board down-regulation of a variety of genes occurring in heat-tolerant, but not in heat-sensitive clones. This response is particularly obvious among genes involved in core metabolic pathways and those responsible for transcription, translation and DNA repair.

Conclusions

The observed down-regulation of metabolism, consistent with previous findings in yeast and Drosophila, may reflect a general compensatory stress response. The associated down-regulation of DNA repair pathways potentially creates a trade-off between short-term benefits of survival at high temperature and long-term costs of accelerated mutation accumulation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-859) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Early developmental conditioning of later health and disease: physiology or pathophysiology?

Extensive experimental animal studies and epidemiological observations have shown that environmental influences during early development affect the risk of later pathophysiological processes associated with chronic, especially noncommunicable, disease (NCD). This field is recognized as the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). We discuss the extent to which DOHaD represents the result of the physiological processes of developmental plasticity, which may have potential adverse consequences in terms of NCD risk later, or whether it is the manifestation of pathophysiological processes acting in early life but only becoming apparent as disease later. We argue that the evidence suggests the former, through the operation of conditioning processes induced across the normal range of developmental environments, and we summarize current knowledge of the physiological processes involved. The adaptive pathway to later risk accords with current concepts in evolutionary developmental biology, especially those concerning parental effects. Outside the normal range, effects on development can result in nonadaptive processes, and we review their underlying mechanisms and consequences. New concepts concerning the underlying epigenetic and other mechanisms involved in both disruptive and nondisruptive pathways to disease are reviewed, including the evidence for transgenerational passage of risk from both maternal and paternal lines. These concepts have wider implications for understanding the causes and possible prevention of NCDs such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, for broader social policy and for the increasing attention paid in public health to the lifecourse approach to NCD prevention.

Small changes in gene expression of targeted osmoregulatory genes when exposing marine and freshwater threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) to abrupt salinity transfers

Salinity is one of the key factors that affects metabolism, survival and distribution of fish species, as all fish osmoregulate and euryhaline fish maintain osmotic differences between their extracellular fluid and either freshwater or seawater. The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a euryhaline species with populations in both marine and freshwater environments, where the physiological and genomic basis for salinity tolerance adaptation is not fully understood. Therefore, our main objective in this study was to investigate gene expression of three targeted osmoregulatory genes (Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase (ATPA13), cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) and a voltage gated potassium channel gene (KCNH4) and one stress related heat shock protein gene (HSP70)) in gill tissue from marine and freshwater populations when exposed to non-native salinity for periods ranging from five minutes to three weeks. Overall, the targeted genes showed highly plastic expression profiles, in addition the expression of ATP1A3 was slightly higher in saltwater adapted fish and KCNH4 and HSP70 had slightly higher expression in freshwater. As no pronounced changes were observed in the expression profiles of the targeted genes, this indicates that the osmoregulatory apparatuses of both the marine and landlocked freshwater stickleback population have not been environmentally canalized, but are able to respond plastically to abrupt salinity challenges.

Contemporary ecotypic divergence during a recent range expansion was facilitated by adaptive introgression

Although rapid phenotypic evolution during range expansion associated with colonization of contrasting habitats has been documented in several taxa, the evolutionary mechanisms that underlie such phenotypic divergence have less often been investigated. A strong candidate for rapid ecotype formation within an invaded range is the three-spine stickleback in the Lake Geneva region of central Europe. Since its introduction only about 140 years ago, it has undergone a significant expansion of its range and its niche, now forming phenotypically differentiated parapatric ecotypes that occupy either the pelagic zone of the large lake or small inlet streams, respectively. By comparing museum collections from different times with contemporary population samples, we here reconstruct the evolution of parapatric phenotypic divergence through time. Using genetic data from modern samples, we infer the underlying invasion history. We find that parapatric habitat-dependent phenotypic divergence between the lake and stream was already present in the first half of the twentieth century, but the magnitude of differentiation increased through time, particularly in antipredator defence traits. This suggests that divergent selection between the habitats occurred and was stable through much of the time since colonization. Recently, increased phenotypic differentiation in antipredator defence traits likely results from habitat-dependent selection on alleles that arrived through introgression from a distantly related lineage from outside the Lake Geneva region. This illustrates how hybridization can quickly promote phenotypic divergence in a system where adaptation from standing genetic variation was constrained.

Evolution of Plastic Transmission Strategies in Avian Malaria

Malaria parasites have been shown to adjust their life history traits to changing environmental conditions. Parasite relapses and recrudescences—marked increases in blood parasite numbers following a period when the parasite was either absent or present at very low levels in the blood, respectively—are expected to be part of such adaptive plastic strategies. Here, we first present a theoretical model that analyses the evolution of transmission strategies in fluctuating seasonal environments and we show that relapses may be adaptive if they are concomitant with the presence of mosquitoes in the vicinity of the host. We then experimentally test the hypothesis that Plasmodium parasites can respond to the presence of vectors. For this purpose, we repeatedly exposed birds infected by the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum to the bites of uninfected females of its natural vector, the mosquito Culex pipiens, at three different stages of the infection: acute (∼34 days post infection), early chronic (∼122 dpi) and late chronic (∼291 dpi). We show that: (i) mosquito-exposed birds have significantly higher blood parasitaemia than control unexposed birds during the chronic stages of the infection and that (ii) this translates into significantly higher infection prevalence in the mosquito. Our results demonstrate the ability of Plasmodium relictum to maximize their transmission by adopting plastic life history strategies in response to the availability of insect vectors.

Seasonal fluctuations in the environment affect dramatically the abundance of insect species. These fluctuations have important consequences for the transmission of vector-borne diseases. Here we contend that malaria parasites may have evolved plastic transmission strategies as an adaptation to the fluctuations in mosquito densities. First, our theoretical analysis identifies the conditions for the evolution of such plastic transmission strategies. Second, we show that in avian malaria Plasmodium parasites have the ability to increase transmission after being bitten by uninfected Culex mosquitoes. This demonstrates the ability of Plasmodium parasites to adopt plastic transmission strategies and challenges our understanding of malaria epidemiology.

Plasticity predicts evolution in a marine alga

Under global change, populations have four possible responses: ‘migrate, acclimate, adapt or die’ (Gienapp et al. 2008 Climate change and evolution: disentangling environmental and genetic response. Mol. Ecol.17, 167–178. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03413.x)). The challenge is to predict how much migration, acclimatization or adaptation populations are capable of. We have previously shown that populations from more variable environments are more plastic (Schaum et al. 2013 Variation in plastic responses of a globally distributed picoplankton species to ocean acidification. Nature3, 298–230. (doi:10.1038/nclimate1774)), and here we use experimental evolution with a marine microbe to learn that plastic responses predict the extent of adaptation in the face of elevated partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂). Specifically, plastic populations evolve more, and plastic responses in traits other than growth can predict changes in growth in a marine microbe. The relationship between plasticity and evolution is strongest when populations evolve in fluctuating environments, which favour the evolution and maintenance of plasticity. Strikingly, plasticity predicts the extent, but not direction of phenotypic evolution. The plastic response to elevated pCO₂ in green algae is to increase cell division rates, but the evolutionary response here is to decrease cell division rates over 400 generations until cells are dividing at the same rate their ancestors did in ambient CO₂. Slow-growing cells have higher mitochondrial potential and withstand further environmental change better than faster growing cells. Based on this, we hypothesize that slow growth is adaptive under CO₂ enrichment when associated with the production of higher quality daughter cells.

Genetic basis and selection for life-history trait plasticity on alternative host plants for the cereal aphid Sitobion avenae

Sitobion avenae (F.) can survive on various plants in the Poaceae, which may select for highly plastic genotypes. But phenotypic plasticity was often thought to be non-genetic, and of little evolutionary significance historically, and many problems related to adaptive plasticity, its genetic basis and natural selection for plasticity have not been well documented. To address these questions, clones of S. avenae were collected from three plants, and their phenotypic plasticity under alternative environments was evaluated. Our results demonstrated that nearly all tested life-history traits showed significant plastic changes for certain S. avenae clones with the total developmental time of nymphs and fecundity tending to have relatively higher plasticity for most clones. Overall, the level of plasticity for S. avenae clones’ life-history traits was unexpectedly low. The factor ‘clone’ alone explained 27.7–62.3% of the total variance for trait plasticities. The heritability of plasticity was shown to be significant in nearly all the cases. Many significant genetic correlations were found between trait plasticities with a majority of them being positive. Therefore, it is evident that life-history trait plasticity involved was genetically based. There was a high degree of variation in selection coefficients for life-history trait plasticity of different S. avenae clones. Phenotypic plasticity for barley clones, but not for oat or wheat clones, was frequently found to be under significant selection. The directional selection of alternative environments appeared to act to decrease the plasticity of S. avenae clones in most cases. G-matrix comparisons showed significant differences between S. avenae clones, as well as quite a few negative covariances (i.e., trade-offs) between trait plasticities. Genetic basis and evolutionary significance of life-history trait plasticity were discussed.

Contrasting patterns of genetic and phenotypic differentiation in two invasive salmonids in the southern hemisphere

Invasion success may be expected to increase with residence time (i.e., time since first introduction) and secondary releases (i.e., those that follow the original introduction), but this has rarely been tested in natural fish populations. We compared genetic and phenotypic divergence in rainbow trout and brown trout in Chile and the Falkland Islands to test the prediction that adaptive divergence, measured as P_ST/F_ST, would increase with residence time and secondary releases. We also explored whether interspecific competition between invaders could drive phenotypic divergence. Residence time had no significant effect on genetic diversity, phenotypic divergence, effective population size, or signatures of expansion of invasive trout. In contrast, secondary releases had a major effect on trout invasions, and rainbow trout populations mostly affected by aquaculture escapees showed significant divergence from less affected populations. Coexistence with brown trout had a positive effect on phenotypic divergence of rainbow trout. Our results highlight an important role of secondary releases in shaping fish invasions, but do not support the contention that older invaders are more differentiated than younger ones. They also suggest that exotic trout may not have yet developed local adaptations in these recently invaded habitats, at least with respect to growth-related traits.

Fitness consequences of maternal and grandmaternal effects

Transgenerational effects are broader than only parental relationships. Despite mounting evidence that multigenerational effects alter phenotypic and life-history traits, our understanding of how they combine to determine fitness is not well developed because of the added complexity necessary to study them. Here, we derive a quantitative genetic model of adaptation to an extraordinary new environment by an additive genetic component, phenotypic plasticity, maternal and grandmaternal effects. We show how, at equilibrium, negative maternal and negative grandmaternal effects maximize expected population mean fitness. We define negative transgenerational effects as those that have a negative effect on trait expression in the subsequent generation, that is, they slow, or potentially reverse, the expected evolutionary dynamic. When maternal effects are positive, negative grandmaternal effects are preferred. As expected under Mendelian inheritance, the grandmaternal effects have a lower impact on fitness than the maternal effects, but this dual inheritance model predicts a more complex relationship between maternal and grandmaternal effects to constrain phenotypic variance and so maximize expected population mean fitness in the offspring.

Importance of plasticity and local adaptation for coping with changing salinity in coastal areas: a test case with barnacles in the Baltic Sea

Background

Salinity plays an important role in shaping coastal marine communities. Near-future climate predictions indicate that salinity will decrease in many shallow coastal areas due to increased precipitation; however, few studies have addressed this issue. The ability of ecosystems to cope with future changes will depend on species’ capacities to acclimatise or adapt to new environmental conditions. Here, we investigated the effects of a strong salinity gradient (the Baltic Sea system – Baltic, Kattegat, Skagerrak) on plasticity and adaptations in the euryhaline barnacle Balanus improvisus. We used a common-garden approach, where multiple batches of newly settled barnacles from each of three different geographical areas along the Skagerrak-Baltic salinity gradient were exposed to corresponding native salinities (6, 15 and 30 PSU), and phenotypic traits including mortality, growth, shell strength, condition index and reproductive maturity were recorded.

Results

We found that B. improvisus was highly euryhaline, but had highest growth and reproductive maturity at intermediate salinities. We also found that low salinity had negative effects on other fitness-related traits including initial growth and shell strength, although mortality was also lowest in low salinity. Overall, differences between populations in most measured traits were weak, indicating little local adaptation to salinity. Nonetheless, we observed some population-specific responses – notably that populations from high salinity grew stronger shells in their native salinity compared to the other populations, possibly indicating adaptation to differences in local predation pressure.

Conclusions

Our study shows that B. improvisus is an example of a true brackish-water species, and that plastic responses are more likely than evolutionary tracking in coping with future changes in coastal salinity.

The evolution of seed dormancy: environmental cues, evolutionary hubs, and diversification of the seed plants

Seed dormancy, by controlling the timing of germination, can strongly affect plant survival. The kind of seed dormancy, therefore, can influence both population and species-level processes such as colonization, adaptation, speciation, and extinction. We used a dataset comprising over 14,000 taxa in 318 families across the seed plants to test hypotheses on the evolution of different kinds of seed dormancy and their association with lineage diversification. We found morphophysiological dormancy to be the most likely ancestral state of seed plants, suggesting that physiologically regulated dormancy in response to environmental cues was present at the origin of seed plants. Additionally, we found that physiological dormancy (PD), once disassociated from morphological dormancy, acted as an 'evolutionary hub' from which other dormancy classes evolved, and that it was associated with higher rates of lineage diversification via higher speciation rates. The environmental sensitivity provided by dormancy in general, and by PD in particular, appears to be a key trait in the diversification of seed plants.

Plastic responses to elevated temperature in low and high elevation populations of three grassland species

Local persistence of plant species in the face of climate change is largely mediated by genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity. In species with a wide altitudinal range, population responses to global warming are likely to differ at contrasting elevations. In controlled climate chambers, we investigated the responses of low and high elevation populations (1200 and 1800 m a.s.l.) of three nutrient-poor grassland species, Trifolium montanum, Ranunculus bulbosus, and Briza media, to ambient and elevated temperature. We measured growth-related, reproductive and phenological traits, evaluated differences in trait plasticity and examined whether trait values or plasticities were positively related to approximate fitness and thus under selection. Elevated temperature induced plastic responses in several growth-related traits of all three species. Although flowering phenology was advanced in T. montanum and R. bulbosus, number of flowers and reproductive allocation were not increased under elevated temperature. Plasticity differed between low and high elevation populations only in leaf traits of T. montanum and B. media. Some growth-related and phenological traits were under selection. Moreover, plasticities were not correlated with approximate fitness indicating selectively neutral plastic responses to elevated temperature. The observed plasticity in growth-related and phenological traits, albeit variable among species, suggests that plasticity is an important mechanism in mediating plant responses to elevated temperature. However, the capacity of species to respond to climate change through phenotypic plasticity is limited suggesting that the species additionally need evolutionary adaptation to adjust to climate change. The observed selection on several growth-related and phenological traits indicates that the study species have the potential for future evolution in the context of a warming climate.

Desiccation plasticity in the embryonic life histories of non-annual rivulid species

BACKGROUND

Diapause is a developmental arrest present in annual killifish, whose eggs are able to survive long periods of desiccation when the temporary ponds they inhabit dry up. Diapause can occur in three different developmental stages. These differ, within and between species, in their responsiveness to different environmental cues. A role of developmental plasticity and genetic assimilation in diapause evolution has been previously suggested but not experimentally explored. We investigated whether plastic developmental delays or arrests provoked by an unusual and extreme environment could be the ancestral condition for diapause. This would be in agreement with plasticity evolution playing a role in the emergence of diapause in this group. We have used a comparative experimental approach and exposed embryos of non-annual killifish belonging to five different species from the former genus Rivulus to brief periods of desiccation. We have estimated effects on developmental and mortality rates during and after the desiccation treatment.

RESULTS

Embryos of these non-annual rivulids decreased their developmental rates in early stages of development in response to desiccation and this effect persisted after the treatment. Two pairs of two different species had sufficient sample sizes to investigate rates of development in later stages well. In one of these, we found cohorts of embryos in the latest stages of development that did not hatch over a period of more than 1 month without mortality. Several properties of this arrest are also used to characterize diapause III in annual killifish. Such a cohort is present in control conditions and increases in frequency in the desiccation treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of plasticity for developmental timing and a prolonged developmental arrest in non-annual rivulids, suggest that a plastic developmental delay or diapause might have been present in the shared ancestor of annual and non-annual South American killifish and that the evolution of plasticity could have played a role in the emergence of the diapauses. Further comparative experimental studies and field research are needed to better understand how diapause and its plasticity evolved in this group.

Plant Phenotypic Plasticity in Response to Environmental Factors

Plants are exposed to heterogeneity in the environment where new stress factors (i.e., climate change, land use change, and invasiveness) are introduced, and where inter- and intraspecies differences may reflect resource limitation and/or environmental stress factors. Phenotypic plasticity is considered one of the major means by which plants can cope with environmental factor variability. Nevertheless, the extent to which phenotypic plasticity may facilitate survival under environmental condition changes still remains largely unknown because results are sometimes controversial. Thus, it is important to identify plant functional traits in which plasticity may play a determinant role in plant response to global change as well as on the ecological consequences at an ecosystem level for the competition between wild and invasive species, considering that species with a greater adaptive plasticity may be more likely to survive in novel environmental conditions. In the near future, it will be important to increase long-term studies on natural populations in order to understand plant response to environmental factor fluctuations including climate change. There is the necessity to analyze variations at phenotypic and genetic levels for the same species and, in particular, for endemic and rare species because these could have drastic effects at an ecosystem level.

Evolution of phenotypic plasticity and environmental tolerance of a labile quantitative character in a fluctuating environment

Quantitative genetic models of evolution of phenotypic plasticity are used to derive environmental tolerance curves for a population in a changing environment, providing a theoretical foundation for integrating physiological and community ecology with evolutionary genetics of plasticity and norms of reaction. Plasticity is modelled for a labile quantitative character undergoing continuous reversible development and selection in a fluctuating environment. If there is no cost of plasticity, a labile character evolves expected plasticity equalling the slope of the optimal phenotype as a function of the environment. This contrasts with previous theory for plasticity influenced by the environment at a critical stage of early development determining a constant adult phenotype on which selection acts, for which the expected plasticity is reduced by the environmental predictability over the discrete time lag between development and selection. With a cost of plasticity in a labile character, the expected plasticity depends on the cost and on the environmental variance and predictability averaged over the continuous developmental time lag. Environmental tolerance curves derived from this model confirm traditional assumptions in physiological ecology and provide new insights. Tolerance curve width increases with larger environmental variance, but can only evolve within a limited range. The strength of the trade-off between tolerance curve height and width depends on the cost of plasticity. Asymmetric tolerance curves caused by male sterility at high temperature are illustrated. A simple condition is given for a large transient increase in plasticity and tolerance curve width following a sudden change in average environment.