A case of modular phenotypic plasticity in the depth gradient for the gorgonian coral Antillogorgia bipinnata (Cnidaria: Octocorallia)

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Research Article

Iván Calixto-Botía¹  Juan A. Sánchez² 

[1] Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig Universität, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32 IFZ D-35392, Giessen, Germany;Laboratory of Biología Molecular Marina-Biommar, Department of Biological Sciences-Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, P.O. Box 4976, Carrera 1E No 18A – 10, Bogotá, Colombia;Laboratory of Biología Molecular Marina-Biommar, Department of Biological Sciences-Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, P.O. Box 4976, Carrera 1E No 18A – 10, Bogotá, Colombia;Marine Sciences, International Giessen Graduate Centre for the Life Sciences (GGL), Justus Liebig Universität, Giessen, Germany;

关键词: Phenotypic plasticity;    Antillogorgia bipinnata;    Reaction norm;    Octocoral;    Depth cline;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12862-017-0900-8

 received in 2016-08-18, accepted in 2017-02-02,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPhenotypic plasticity, as a phenotypic response induced by the environment, has been proposed as a key factor in the evolutionary history of corals. A significant number of octocoral species show high phenotypic variation, exhibiting a strong overlap in intra- and inter-specific morphologic variation. This is the case of the gorgonian octocoral Antillogorgia bipinnata (Verrill 1864), which shows three polyphyletic morphotypes along a bathymetric gradient. This research tested the phenotypic plasticity of modular traits in A. bipinnata with a reciprocal transplant experiment involving 256 explants from two morphotypes in two locations and at two depths. Vertical and horizontal length and number of new branches were compared 13 weeks following transplant. The data were analysed with a linear mixed-effects model and a graphic approach by reaction norms.ResultsAt the end of the experiment, 91.8% of explants survived. Lower vertical and horizontal growth rates and lower branch promotion were found for deep environments compared to shallow environments. The overall variation behaved similarly to the performance of native transplants. In particular, promotion of new branches showed variance mainly due to a phenotypic plastic effect.ConclusionsGlobally, environmental and genotypic effects explain the variation of the assessed traits. Survival rates besides plastic responses suggest an intermediate scenario between adaptive plasticity and local adaptation that may drive a potential process of adaptive divergence along depth cline in A. bipinnata.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017

【 图 表 】

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