Phenotypic plasticity: linking molecular mechanisms with evolutionary outcomes

We argue that phenotypic plasticity should be broadly construed to encompass a diversity of phenomena spanning several hierarchical levels of organization. Despite seemingly disparate outcomes among different groups of organisms (e.g., the opening/closing of stomata in leaves, adjustments of allocation to growth/reproduction, or the production of different castes in social insects), there are underlying shared processes that initiate these responses. At the most fundamental level, all plastic responses originate at the level of individual cells, which receive and process signals from their environment. The broad variations in physiology, morphology, behavior, etc., that can be produced by a single genotype, can be accounted for by processes regulating gene expression in response to environmental variation. Although evolution of adaptive plasticity may not be possible for some types of environmental signals, in many cases selection has molded responses to environmental variation that generate precise and repeatable patterns of gene expression. We highlight the example of responses of plants to variation in light quality and quantity, mediated via the phytochrome genes. Responses to changes in light at particular stages of plants' life cycles (e.g., seed germination, competition, reproduction) are controlled by different members of this gene family. The mechanistic details of the cell and molecular biology of phytochrome gene action (e.g., their effects on expression of other genes) is outlined. Plasticity of cells and organisms to internal and external environmental signals is pervasive, and represents not just an outcome of evolutionary processes, but also a potentially important molder of them. Phenotypes originally initiated via a plastic response, can be fixed through genetic assimilation as alternate regulatory pathways are shut off. Evolution of mechanisms of plasticity and canalization can both reduce genetic variation, as well as shield it. When the organism encounters novel environmental conditions, this shielded variation may be expressed, revealing hidden reaction norms that represent the raw material for subsequent evolution.     

Role ofDrosophila TRP in inositide-mediated Ca2+ entry

Inositol lipid signaling relies on an InsP₃-induced Ca²⁺ release from intracellular stores and on extracellular Ca²⁺ entry, which takes place when the Ca²⁺ stores become depleted of Ca²⁺. This interplay between Ca²⁺ release and Ca²⁺ entry has been termed capacitative Ca²⁺ entry and the inward current calcium release activated current (CRAC) to indicate gating of Ca²⁺ entry by Ca²⁺-store depletion. The signaling pathway and the gating mechanism of capacitative Ca²⁺ entry, however, are largely unknown and the molecular participants in this process have not been identified. In this article we review genetic, molecular, and functional studies of wild-type and mutantDrosophila photoreceptors, suggesting that thetransient receptor potential mutant (trp) is the first putative capacitative Ca²⁺ entry mutant. Furthermore, several lines of evidence suggest that thetrp gene product TRP is a candidate subunit of the plasma membrane channel that is activated by Ca²⁺ store depletion.     

中国地方品种鸡白细胞介素2基因的克隆及遗传进化分析(英)

鸡白细胞介素 2 (chIL 2 )是近年来新发现的一类细胞因子 .根据Sundick等发表的鸡IL 2基因序列设计一对特异性引物 ,从ConA体外激活的脾淋巴细胞中提取mRNA ,通过RT PCR方法分别扩增和克隆了我国仙居鸡、丝羽乌骨鸡两个地方品种和艾维茵商品肉鸡IL 2cDNA .仙居鸡、丝羽乌骨鸡和艾维茵商品肉鸡IL 2基因的编码区均由 42 9nt组成 ,编码一个由 143个氨基酸组成的前体蛋白 .基因 5′端含有 17个核苷酸 ,3′端含有 2 85个核苷酸组成的非编码区 ,3′ UTR中含有 5个重复的“ATTTA”序列 .编码蛋白氨基酸与来自GenBank的Kestrel、Obese和SC品系的来杭鸡比较 ,氨基酸的突变主要发生在 2 8～ 3 2位 .而这一区域仙居鸡和丝羽乌骨鸡的编码氨基酸序列与Kestrel来杭鸡相同 ,艾维茵商品肉鸡与Obese和SC来杭鸡相同 .基因系统进化树分析表明 ,仙居鸡、丝羽乌骨鸡和Kestrel来杭鸡具有很近的亲缘关系 ,艾维茵商品肉鸡与Obese和SC来杭鸡具有很近的亲缘关系 .中国的药用鸡品种———丝羽乌骨鸡在非常保守的 13 3位发生了氨基酸突变     

Phylogeography of five Polytrichum species within Europe

Using allozymes and microsatellites we have analysed the genetic structure among European populations for several Polytrichum species to infer relevant factors, such as historical events or gene flow, that have shaped their genetic structure. As we observed low levels of genetic differentiation among populations, and no decreasing levels of genetic variation with increasing latitude within most of the examined species, no genetic evidence was obtained for a step-wise recolonization of Europe from southern refugia after the latest glacial period for P. commune , P. uliginosum , P. formosum and P. piliferum . The near absence of population substructuring within these species does indicate that extensive spore dispersal is the most important factor determining the genetic structure among European Polytrichum populations. Gene flow levels have apparently been sufficient to prevent genetic differentiation among populations caused by genetic drift, and to wipe out any genetic structure caused by the postglacial recolonization process. On the other hand, increased genetic differentiation of alpine P. formosum populations suggests that mountain ranges might restrict gene flow significantly among Polytrichum populations. In contrast to most examined Polytrichum species, P. juniperinum showed high levels of genetic differentiation and a profound genetic structure. Assuming that gene flow is not more restricted in P. juniperinum , these findings suggest that this species has recolonized Europe after the latest glacial period from two different refugia, one possibly being the British Isles.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 2003, 78, 203–213.     

Population size and identity influence the reaction norm of the rare,endemic plant Cochlearia bavarica across a gradient of environmental stress

Habitat degradation and loss can result in population decline and genetic erosion, limiting the ability of organisms to cope with environmental change, whether this is through evolutionary genetic response (requiring genetic variation) or through phenotypic plasticity (i.e., the ability of a given genotype to express a variable phenotype across environments). Here we address the question whether plants from small populations are less plastic or more susceptible to environmental stress than plants from large populations. We collected seed families from small (<100) versus large natural populations (>1,000 flowering plants) of the rare, endemic plant Cochlearia bavarica (Brassicaceae). We exposed the seedlings to a range of environments, created by manipulating water supply and light intensity in a 2 x 2 factorial design in the greenhouse. We monitored plant growth and survival for 300 days. Significant effects of offspring environment on offspring characters demonstrated that there is phenotypic plasticity in the responses to environmental stress in this species. Significant effects of population size group, but mainly of population identity within the population size groups, and of maternal plant identity within populations indicated variation due to genetic (plus potentially maternal) variation for offspring traits. The environment x maternal plant identity interaction was rarely significant, providing little evidence for genetically- (plus potentially maternally-) based variation in plasticity within populations. However, significant environment x population-size-group and environment x population-identity interactions suggested that populations differed in the amount of plasticity, the mean amount being smaller in small populations than in large populations. Whereas on day 210 the differences between small and large populations were largest in the environment in which plants grew biggest (i.e., under benign conditions), on day 270 the difference was largest in stressful environments. These results show that population size and population identity can affect growth and survival differently across environmental stress gradients. Moreover, these effects can themselves be modified by time-dependent variation in the interaction between plants and their environment.     

Genetic population structure of the net-winged midge, Elporia barnardi (Diptera: Blephariceridae) in streams of the south-western Cape, South Africa: implications for dispersal

SUMMARY 1. The net‐winged midges (Diptera: Blephariceridae), with highly specific habitat requirements and specialised morphological adaptations, exhibit high habitat fidelity and a limited potential for dispersal. Given the longitudinal and hierarchical nature of lotic systems, along with the geological structure of catchment units, we hypothesise that populations of net‐winged midge should exhibit a high degree of population sub‐structuring. 2. Sequence variation in the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) region of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was examined to determine patterns of genetic variation and infer historical and contemporary processes important in the genetic structuring of populations of Elporia barnardi. The DNA variation was examined at sites within streams, between streams in the same range, and between mountain ranges in the south‐western Cape of South Africa. 3. Twenty‐five haplotypes, 641 bp in length, were identified from the 93 individuals sampled. A neighbour‐joining tree revealed two highly divergent clades (～5%) corresponding to populations from the two mountain ranges. A number of monophyletic groups were identified within each clade, associated with individual catchment units. 4. The distribution of genetic variation was examined using analysis of molecular variance (amova ). This showed most of the variation to be distributed among the two ranges (～80%), with a small percentage (～15%) distributed among streams within each range. Similarly, variation among streams on Table Mountain was primarily distributed among catchment units (86%). A Mantel's test revealed a significant relationship between genetic differentiation and geographical distance, suggesting isolation by distance (P < 0.001). 5. Levels of sequence divergence between the two major clades, representing the two mountain ranges, are comparable with those of some intra‐generic species comparisons. Vicariant events, such as the isolation of the Peninsula mountain chain and Table Mountain, may have been important in the evolution of what is now a highly endemic fauna. 6. The monophyletic nature of the catchment units suggests that dispersal is confined to the stream environment and that mountain ridges provide effective physical barriers to dispersal of E. barnardi.     

Condition‐dependent expression of pre‐ and postcopulatory sexual traits in guppies

Female choice can impose persistent directional selection on male sexually selected traits, yet such traits often exhibit high levels of phenotypic variation. One explanation for this paradox is that if sexually selected traits are costly, only the fittest males are able to acquire and allocate the resources required for their expression. Furthermore, because male condition is dependent on resource allocation, condition dependence in sexual traits is expected to underlie trade‐offs between reproduction and other life‐history functions. In this study we test these ideas by experimentally manipulating diet quality (carotenoid levels) and quantity in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a livebearing freshwater fish that is an important model for understanding relationships between pre‐ and post‐copulatory sexually selected traits. Specifically, we test for condition dependence in the expression of pre‐ and postcopulatory sexual traits (behavior, ornamentation, sperm traits) and determine whether diet manipulation mediates relationships among these traits. Consistent with prior work we found a significant effect of diet quantity on the expression of both pre‐ and postcopulatory male traits; diet‐restricted males performed fewer sexual behaviors and exhibited significant reductions in color ornamentation, sperm quality, sperm number, and sperm length than those fed ad libitum. However, contrary to our expectations, we found no significant effect of carotenoid manipulation on the expression of any of these traits, and no evidence for a trade‐off in resource allocation between pre‐ and postcopulatory episodes of sexual selection. Our results further underscore the sensitivity of behavioral, ornamental, and ejaculate traits to dietary stress, and highlight the important role of condition dependence in maintaining the high variability in male sexual traits.     

Specific PCR product primer design using memetic algorithm

To provide feasible primer sets for performing a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) experiment, many primer design methods have been proposed. However, the majority of these methods require a relatively long time to obtain an optimal solution since large quantities of template DNA need to be analyzed. Furthermore, the designed primer sets usually do not provide a specific PCR product size. In recent years, evolutionary computation has been applied to PCR primer design and yielded promising results. In this article, a memetic algorithm (MA) is proposed to solve primer design problems associated with providing a specific product size for PCR experiments. The MA is compared with a genetic algorithm (GA) using an accuracy formula to estimate the quality of the primer design and test the running time. Overall, 50 accession nucleotide sequences were sampled for the comparison of the accuracy of the GA and MA for primer design. Five hundred runs of the GA and MA primer design were performed with PCR product lengths of 150–300 bps and 500–800 bps, and two different methods of calculating T_m for each accession nucleotide sequence were tested. A comparison of the accuracy results for the GA and MA primer design showed that the MA primer design yielded better results than the GA primer design. The results further indicate that the proposed method finds optimal or near‐optimal primer sets and effective PCR products in a dry dock experiment. Related materials are available online at http://bio.kuas.edu.tw/ma‐pd/ . © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009     

结缕草属植物种间关系的SSR分析

以结缕草属的9种1变种共58份种源为材料,利用SSR标记技术进行了多样性分析和种间关系研究。结果表明:结缕草属植物具有很高的遗传多样性;14对SSR引物中,共扩增出267条带,Nei’s基因多样性指数为0.376 0,Shannon多样性指数为0.552 6;属内总基因多样性为0.382 3,种内基因多样性为0.219 6,57.44%的遗传变异存在于种内,基因流为0.674 8,不同的种之间有遗传分化,遗传漂变对该遗传分化有一定的贡献。UPGMA遗传距离聚类分析结果表明,结缕草、中华结缕草、朝鲜结缕草和大穗结缕草聚为一类;沟叶结缕草、小结缕草和细叶结缕草聚为一类;大花结缕草、长花结缕草和太平洋结缕草各自为一类。研究表明,生态地理条件相似的种优先聚集。