Transgenerational plasticity: integration of environmental information within and across-generations in plants

GABRIELA A AUGE

Congreso; I Congreso Latinoamericano de Evolución, CLEVOL 2021; 2021

Plants respond to environmental changes experienced during their life cycles, as well as to those of previous generations. This transgenerational plasticity influences developmental traits and the expression of adaptive responses to fluctuating climates in subsequent generations. Our results show that environments of previous generations affect the expression of life-history traits in Arabidopsis thaliana and weedy rice, although their effects get diluted with time. This transgenerational plasticity is at least in part regulated by a set of pleiotropic genes that keep a high level of functional conservation across life stages and generations. Our work understanding how parental environments affect progeny responses, along with the identification of their underlying molecular mechanisms, would inform potential trajectories of plants in natural and agricultural ecosystems. We can apply this knowledge to predict plant responses more efficiently under the models of climate change and develop more precise management programs.