Determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yields
Plant trait diversity is known to influence population yield, but the scale at which this happens remains unknown: divergent individuals might change yields of immediate neighbors (neighbor scale) or of plants across a population (population scale). We use Nicotiana attenuata plants silenced in mito...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2020-02-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/53517 |
| _version_ | 1818028602777665536 |
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| author | Erica McGale Henrique Valim Deepika Mittal Jesús Morales Jimenez Rayko Halitschke Meredith C Schuman Ian T Baldwin |
| author_facet | Erica McGale Henrique Valim Deepika Mittal Jesús Morales Jimenez Rayko Halitschke Meredith C Schuman Ian T Baldwin |
| author_sort | Erica McGale |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plant trait diversity is known to influence population yield, but the scale at which this happens remains unknown: divergent individuals might change yields of immediate neighbors (neighbor scale) or of plants across a population (population scale). We use Nicotiana attenuata plants silenced in mitogen-activated protein kinase 4 (irMPK4) – with low water-use efficiency (WUE) – to study the scale at which water-use traits alter intraspecific population yields. In the field and glasshouse, we observed overyielding in populations with low percentages of irMPK4 plants, unrelated to water-use phenotypes. Paired-plant experiments excluded the occurrence of overyielding effects at the neighbor scale. Experimentally altering field arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal associations by silencing the Sym-pathway gene NaCCaMK did not affect reproductive overyielding, implicating an effect independent of belowground AMF interactions. Additionally, micro-grafting experiments revealed dependence on shoot-expressed MPK4 for N. attenuata to vary its yield per neighbor presence. We find that variation in a single gene, MPK4, is responsible for population overyielding through a mechanism, independent of irMPK4’s WUE phenotype, at the aboveground, population scale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:06:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-88e343ecd541497b97bb1f3b52b2565b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:06:24Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-88e343ecd541497b97bb1f3b52b2565b2022-12-22T02:01:15ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2020-02-01910.7554/eLife.53517Determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yieldsErica McGale0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5996-4213Henrique Valim1Deepika Mittal2Jesús Morales Jimenez3Rayko Halitschke4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1109-8782Meredith C Schuman5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3159-3534Ian T Baldwin6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5371-2974Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck for Chemical Ecology, Jena, GermanyDepartment of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck for Chemical Ecology, Jena, GermanyDepartment of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck for Chemical Ecology, Jena, GermanyDepartment of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck for Chemical Ecology, Jena, GermanyDepartment of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck for Chemical Ecology, Jena, GermanyDepartment of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck for Chemical Ecology, Jena, GermanyDepartment of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck for Chemical Ecology, Jena, GermanyPlant trait diversity is known to influence population yield, but the scale at which this happens remains unknown: divergent individuals might change yields of immediate neighbors (neighbor scale) or of plants across a population (population scale). We use Nicotiana attenuata plants silenced in mitogen-activated protein kinase 4 (irMPK4) – with low water-use efficiency (WUE) – to study the scale at which water-use traits alter intraspecific population yields. In the field and glasshouse, we observed overyielding in populations with low percentages of irMPK4 plants, unrelated to water-use phenotypes. Paired-plant experiments excluded the occurrence of overyielding effects at the neighbor scale. Experimentally altering field arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal associations by silencing the Sym-pathway gene NaCCaMK did not affect reproductive overyielding, implicating an effect independent of belowground AMF interactions. Additionally, micro-grafting experiments revealed dependence on shoot-expressed MPK4 for N. attenuata to vary its yield per neighbor presence. We find that variation in a single gene, MPK4, is responsible for population overyielding through a mechanism, independent of irMPK4’s WUE phenotype, at the aboveground, population scale.https://elifesciences.org/articles/53517mitogen-activated protein kinase 4fieldscalewater-use efficiencyN. attenuataarbuscular mycorrhizal fungi |
| spellingShingle | Erica McGale Henrique Valim Deepika Mittal Jesús Morales Jimenez Rayko Halitschke Meredith C Schuman Ian T Baldwin Determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yields eLife mitogen-activated protein kinase 4 field scale water-use efficiency N. attenuata arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi |
| title | Determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yields |
| title_full | Determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yields |
| title_fullStr | Determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yields |
| title_full_unstemmed | Determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yields |
| title_short | Determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yields |
| title_sort | determining the scale at which variation in a single gene changes population yields |
| topic | mitogen-activated protein kinase 4 field scale water-use efficiency N. attenuata arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/53517 |
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