Data from: Adaptive plasticity and epigenetic variation in response to warming in an Alpine plant

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.

环境诱导的表型可塑性（phenotypic plasticity）或许是生物应对环境变化的关键组成部分。本研究以高山草本植物Wahlenbergia ceracea为对象，针对沿海拔梯度采集的半同胞株系，探究了其局部分化与高温响应下的适应性表型可塑性。利用扩增片段长度多态性（AFLP）技术，我们发现低海拔与高海拔来源的幼苗间存在微弱但显著的遗传分化；且低海拔来源幼苗的生长速率更快，对温度的响应强度（可塑性程度）也高于中、高海拔来源的幼苗。进一步分析显示，表型可塑性对低海拔来源植株多为适应性，对高海拔来源植株则多为非适应性。借助甲基化敏感扩增片段长度多态性（MS-AFLP）技术，我们发现低海拔来源幼苗在温度响应过程中表观遗传变异水平有所升高。尽管未检测到MS-AFLP位点与表型间存在显著直接相关性，但本研究结果证实，升温响应中的适应性表型可塑性在精细空间尺度上存在变异，并表明表观遗传机制参与了该温度响应过程。