Experimental Study On The Transgenerational Plasticity Of Arabidopsis Thaliana

Transgenerational plasticity is a phenomenon in which the ancestral environment affects the traits and behaviors of offspring.In recent years,more and more studies have found that transgenerational plasticity can produce ecological adaptation value for animals and plants in responding to environmental changes.Transgenerational plasticity research helps to understand the ecological adaptation strategies of organisms under global climate change.Therefore,related researchs receives widespread attention.However,current researchs pay little attention to the pattern of transgenerational plasticity under the interaction of multiple factors which include different genetic backgrounds and ancestral environments.Especially the research on transgenerational plasticity that can persist for multiple generations is also very limited.The system characterizes the mode of transgenerational plasticity,and the study of how different genetic backgrounds and ancestral environments affect transgenerational plasticity and their persistence will deepen the understanding of the ecological significance of transgenerational plasticity and help us explore the generation mechanism of transgenerational plasticity.In this study,Arabidopsis thaliana,a model plant with short generation cycles and rich genetic background information,was used as experimental materials to establish a multi-factor and multi-generational transgenerational plasticity experimental research system.The experimental system was built in the cultivation room and lasted for 4 generations.A total of 14 ecotypes from different origins were selected as experimental materials(Fei-0、Ler-0、Abd-0、Col-0、Olympia-2、Ws-2、En-1、Kar-1、Dja-1、Sapporo-0、Tri-0、Tol-0、TRE-1、Ang-0),a total of 10 environmental treatment groups were set up for the parent generation(arid environment group,leaf cut environment group,jasmonic acid control environment group,jasmonic acid environment group,low-concentration salt environment group,low-concentration cadmium chloride environment group,low-nutrition environment group,high-concentration salt environment group,high-concentration cadmium chloride environment group and high-nutrition environment group),2 control groups,6 replicates for each ecotype and each environment,and 1008 Arabidopsis plants are planted per generation(so there are 12 parental environments×14 ecotypes×6 repetitions);The first,second,and third generations of these plants were cultured in a control environment to observe the influence of the parental environment on the offspring.Six phenotypic datas were collected for each generation of plants,including rosette leaf diameter,plant height,numbers of seed,dry weight of above-ground parts,flowering time and reproduction input.Through the analysis of the phenotypic datas of each generation,under this experimental system,the influence of different genetic backgrounds,different parental environments and different offspring generations on the transgenerational plasticity is studied.Finally,obtain the historical climate datas of the origin of each ecological Arabidopsis thaliana from The Climate Data Guide Website,including the time series data of annual average temperature,annual precipitation,annual maximum temperature and spring precipitation from 1901 to 2019,and dig deeper into the historical factors that affect the strength of transgenerational plasticity.The results of the study found that the transgenerational plasticity was not significantly affected by the parental environment,but showed significant differences among different ecotypes.Some ecotypes(sensitive ecotypes)were more susceptible to the influence of the parental environment,while other ecotypes did not respond to any parental treatment.When the environmental concentration of the parental generation changes,the size of the transgenerational plasticity of the sensitive ecotype will also change.The persistence of transgenerational plasticity also showed differences between ecotypes.The transgenerational plasticity of sensitive ecotypes can last for three generations,and gradually weaken with the generations.The study also found that the transgenerational plasticity of the flowering time of the offspring was significantly positively correlated with the average annual precipitation of each ecotype Arabidopsis thaliana origin during 1901-2019,however,which was significantly negatively correlated the temporal heterogeneity of the annual mean temperature of the origin in the period from 1901 to 2019,indicating that the intensity of the ecotype-specific transgenerational plasticity was related to the mean value and volatility of the climate factors of the place of origin.This study is the first to systematically characterize how various factors and their interaction affect the strength and persistence of transgenerational plasticity.The study find that genetic variation is the main determinant of the strength and persistence of transgenerational plasticity,and this genetic variation may be the result of the long-term effects of the climate and environment of the place of origin.Therefore,this study provides a theoretical basis for revealing the ecological adaptation mechanism of organisms to the environment,and is of great significance for understanding how organisms respond to global climate change.