Competition-induced transgenerational plasticity influences competitive interactions and leaf decomposition of offspring
Language English Country Great Britain, England Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed
33111354
DOI
10.1111/nph.17037
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- DNA methylation, adaptation, decomposition, functional traits, intraspecific phenotypic variability, parental effects, plant competition, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance,
- MeSH
- Ecosystem * MeSH
- Phenotype MeSH
- Adaptation, Physiological * MeSH
- Plant Leaves MeSH
- DNA Methylation MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Phenotypic plasticity, within and across generations (transgenerational plasticity), allows organisms and their progeny to adapt to the environment without modification of the underlying DNA. Recent findings suggest that epigenetic modifications are important mediators of such plasticity. However, empirical studies have, so far, mainly focused on plasticity in response to abiotic factors, overlooking the response to competition. We tested for within-generation and transgenerational phenotypic plasticity triggered by plant-plant competition intensity, and we tested whether it was mediated via DNA methylation, using the perennial, apomictic herb Taraxacum brevicorniculatum in four coordinated experiments. We then tested the consequences of transgenerational plasticity affecting competitive interactions of the offspring and ecosystem processes, such as decomposition. We found that, by promoting differences in DNA methylation, offspring of plants under stronger competition developed faster and presented more resource-conservative phenotypes. Further, these adjustments associated with less degradable leaves, which have the potential to reduce nutrient turnover and might, in turn, favour plants with more conservative traits. Greater parental competition enhanced competitive abilities of the offspring, by triggering adaptive phenotypic plasticity, and decreased offspring leaf decomposability. Our results suggest that competition-induced transgenerational effects could promote rapid adaptations and species coexistence and feed back on biodiversity assembly and nutrient cycling.
Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación Valencia 46113 Spain
Departamento de Biología Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid 28049 Spain
Institute of Botany Czech Academy of Sciences Průhonice 25243 Czech Republic
Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences Department of Botany University of Tartu Tartu 51005 Estonia
Zoology School of Natural Sciences Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2 D02 PN40 Ireland
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