title: Adaptive plasticity and epigenetic variation in response to warming in an Alpine plant.
abstract: Environmentally induced phenotypic plasticity may be a critical component of response to changing environments. We examined local differentiation and adaptive phenotypic plasticity in response to elevated temperature in half-sib lines collected across an elevation gradient for the alpine herb, Wahlenbergia ceracea. Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), we found low but significant genetic differentiation between low- and high-elevation seedlings, and seedlings originating from low elevations grew faster and showed stronger temperature responses (more plasticity) than those from medium and high elevations. Furthermore, plasticity was more often adaptive for plants of low-elevation origin and maladaptive for plants of high elevation. With methylation sensitive-AFLP (MS-AFLP), we revealed an increase in epigenetic variation in response to temperature in low-elevation seedlings. Although we did not find significant direct correlations between MS-AFLP loci and phenotypes, our results demonstrate that adaptive plasticity in temperature response to warming varies over fine spatial scales and suggest the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in this response.
authors.affiliation: Research School of Biology, The Australian National University Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Adrienne B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Nicotra
authors.affiliation: Research School of Biology, The Australian National University Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.affiliation: Research School of Biology, The Australian National University Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Gemma L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Hoyle
authors.affiliation: Department Biology, Science Center, Armstrong University 11935 Abercorn Street, Savannah, Georgia, 31419.
authors.forename: Aaron W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Schrey
authors.affiliation: Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) Droevendaalsesteeg 10, Wageningen, 6708 PB, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Koen J F
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Verhoeven
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida Tampa, Florida, 33617.
authors.forename: Christina L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Richards
keywords: Adaptive plasticity; DNA methylation; alpine plants; amplified fragment length polymorphism; epigenetics; global warming