Phenotypic plasticity and evolution by genetic assimilation

Pigliucci, Massimo; Murren, Courtney J.; Schlichting, Carl D.

doi:10.1242/jeb.02070

Cited by 877 publications

(805 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The observed inter-specific differences in durophagy are consistent with a scenario of speciation facilitated by phenotypic accommodation followed by functional adaptation (West-Eberhard 2005; Pigliucci et al 2006), where the range of phenotypic plasticity in lantern size still exhibited by S. purpuratus appears to have been canalized in opposite directions during the divergence of S. droebachiensis and S. pallidus. The latter species has successfully specialized in durophagy by retaining a large, variable lantern size, supported by a robust, polyporous skeleton, whereas S. droebachiensis has evolved a narrower, perhaps less costly, trophic morphology that favours opportunistic, invasive overexploitation of benthic vegetation at the expense of a reduced capacity for durophagy.…”

Section: Lantern Size Of Other Strongylocentrotidssupporting

confidence: 80%

Enlarged lantern size in similar-sized, sympatric, sibling species of Strongylocentrotid sea urchins: from phenotypic accommodation to functional adaptation for durophagy

Hagen¹

2007

Mar Biol

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Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis is a well known omnivorous sea urchin with an unrivalled capacity to destroy North Atlantic kelp forests. S. pallidus is a lesser known, morphologically similar, and closely related species with no record of destructive grazing, despite its larger lantern size. I quantify the lantern size of both species using bivariate allometric analysis, and test the hypothesis that enlarged lantern size facilitates durophagy, the consumption of hard prey, by measuring the feeding capacity of urchins with different lantern sizes when offered a hard-shelled prey, the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis. The results suggest that S. droebachiensis has a limited capacity for durophagous feeding irrespective of lantern size, whereas in S. pallidus the ability to exploit hard shelled prey is positively related to lantern size. This is apparently the first evidence of a relationship between trophic morphology and diet in regular sea urchins. The hypothesis of systematic latitudinal variation in the lantern size of S. pallidus is reappraised and rejected. S. droebachiensis had larger gonads than S. pallidus in field samples, confirming that its small lantern is not impeding nutrient acquisition in shallow habitats.

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Section: Lantern Size Of Other Strongylocentrotidssupporting

confidence: 80%

Enlarged lantern size in similar-sized, sympatric, sibling species of Strongylocentrotid sea urchins: from phenotypic accommodation to functional adaptation for durophagy

Hagen¹

2007

Mar Biol

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“…GWAS | morphometrics | GxE interaction | QTL | RootScape A long-standing debate in evolutionary biology is the relevance of phenotypic plasticity as a mechanism leading to species diversity (1). It has been argued that selection on plasticity responses to environment pressures could underlie fixed phenotypic changes between natural variants (2), providing a potentially rapid mechanism of evolutionary change (3).…”

Section: Integration Of Responses Within and Across Arabidopsis Naturmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of responses within and acrossArabidopsisnatural accessions uncovers loci controlling root systems architecture

Rosas

Cibrián-Jaramillo

Ristova

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Significance Species display a range of plastic phenotypes that presumably have evolved as a result of adaptation to heterogeneous environments. We asked whether the genetic mechanisms that underlie adaptation across populations also determine the response of an individual plant to environmental cues in Arabidopsis . Using an integrative root phenotyping approach, genes that underlie natural variation in root architecture across populations were shown to control plasticity responses within an individual. Together, our results uncover a genetic mechanism underlying the phenotypic plasticity of an individual and phenotypic diversity across natural variants.

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“…This indicates that the change in the mean trait values is in the same direction favored by selection in the new environment, but below the new adaptive peak, which is one of the conditions for adaptive phenotypic plasticity to facilitate adaptation (Ghalambor et al., 2007). Theory predicts that at intermediate levels of adaptive plasticity the produced phenotype moves into the attractive domain of the higher fitness peak, and a period of constancy of this new environment leads to a peak shift via “genetic assimilation” (Pigliucci, Murren, & Schlichting, 2006). If the resultant phenotypic variation has a fitness effect, then selection takes place; and if this phenotypic variation has a genetic component, selection leads to ‘‘genetic accommodation,’’ that is, adaptive evolution that involves gene‐frequency change (West‐Eberhard, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive phenotypic plasticity contributes to divergence between lake and river populations of an East African cichlid fish

Rajkov

Weber

Salzburger

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Adaptive phenotypic plasticity and fixed genotypic differences have long been considered opposing strategies in adaptation. More recently, these mechanisms have been proposed to act complementarily and under certain conditions jointly facilitate evolution, speciation, and even adaptive radiations. Here, we investigate the relative contributions of adaptive phenotypic plasticity vs. local adaptation to fitness, using an emerging model system to study early phases of adaptive divergence, the generalist cichlid fish species Astatotilapia burtoni. We tested direct fitness consequences of morphological divergence between lake and river populations in nature by performing two transplant experiments in Lake Tanganyika. In the first experiment, we used wild‐caught juvenile lake and river individuals, while in the second experiment, we used F1 crosses between lake and river fish bred in a common garden setup. By tracking the survival and growth of translocated individuals in enclosures in the lake over several weeks, we revealed local adaptation evidenced by faster growth of the wild‐caught resident population in the first experiment. On the other hand, we did not find difference in growth between different types of F1 crosses in the second experiment, suggesting a substantial contribution of adaptive phenotypic plasticity to increased immigrant fitness. Our findings highlight the value of formally comparing fitness of wild‐caught and common garden‐reared individuals and emphasize the necessity of considering adaptive phenotypic plasticity in the study of adaptive divergence.

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Phenotypic plasticity and evolution by genetic assimilation

Cited by 877 publications

References 45 publications

Enlarged lantern size in similar-sized, sympatric, sibling species of Strongylocentrotid sea urchins: from phenotypic accommodation to functional adaptation for durophagy

Enlarged lantern size in similar-sized, sympatric, sibling species of Strongylocentrotid sea urchins: from phenotypic accommodation to functional adaptation for durophagy

Integration of responses within and acrossArabidopsisnatural accessions uncovers loci controlling root systems architecture

Adaptive phenotypic plasticity contributes to divergence between lake and river populations of an East African cichlid fish

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