bioRxivJClub
Transgenerational plasticity reflects local adaptation, but is not always advantageous for fitness
bioRxiv · · Preprint · Open access
Branch, Moxley + 1 more
Abstract ↗AI summary
The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
Grand-offspring of Mimulus cardinalis show a transgenerational plasticity fitness pattern linked to whether grandparents experienced historically matched versus foreign environments, not a general advantage.
- Why it matters: The study addresses whether transgenerational plasticity reliably improves fitness under repeated stressors, versus instead reflecting local adaptation and potentially losing adaptive value.
- What they did: Northern and southern plants were grown in a multi-factorial, three-generation experiment after collecting before and after a severe drought, separating allelic effects, TGP, parental effects, and within-generation plasticity.
- The result: Fitness increased in grand-offspring when grandparents’ environments matched historical conditions and decreased under foreign conditions, and TGP was lost after four years of drought for northern flowering time and southern pollen viability.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
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