title: Phenotypic and genetic differences in a perennial herb across a natural gradient of CO2 concentration.
abstract: The atmospheric CO(2) concentration [CO(2)] has been increasing markedly since the industrial revolution and is predicted to reach 500-1,000 μmol mol(-1) by the end of this century. Although the short-term and acclimatory responses to elevated [CO(2)] have been well studied, much less is understood about evolutionary responses to high [CO(2)]. We studied phenotypic and genetic differences in Plantago asiatica populations around a natural CO(2) spring, where [CO(2)] has been consistently high over an evolutionary time scale. Our common-garden experiment revealed that plants transferred from habitats with higher [CO(2)] had higher relative growth rates, greater leaf to root ratios, lower photosynthetic rates, and lower stomatal conductance. The habitat-dependent differences were partly heritable because a similar trend of leaf to root ratio was found among their offsprings. Genetic analyses indicated that selfing or biparental inbreeding might promote local adaptation in areas with high [CO(2)] despite substantial gene flow across the [CO(2)] gradient. These results indicate that phenotypic and genetic differences have occurred between high and normal [CO(2)] populations.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Aoba, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.
authors.forename: Ito
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Onoda
authors.forename: Noe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsushima
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Masakado
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawata
authors.forename: Kouki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hikosaka
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D004777:Environment; D005838:Genotype; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010641:Phenotype; D010943:Plantago / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide