The evolution of apomixis in autopolyploid alpine plants
Final Report Abstract
The project aimed at a comprehensive analysis of the putative factors shaping geographical parthenogenesis in the alpine plant species R. kuepferi. Ecological and reproductive studies on wild populations suggest that tetraploids acclimated better to colder climatic conditions, higher altitudes and showed predominantly apomictic mode of reproduction. The combination of these factors was crucial for the faster postglacial recolonization of the higher parts of the Alps by tetraploids. Apomixis starts in diploid populations at low frequencies, probably under cold conditions, and unreduced gamete formation leads to autopolyploidization via a female triploid bridge. Polyploidy is correlated to differential epigenetic profiles compared to diploids. Epigenetic patterns, however, can be influenced by temperature conditions as shown both in natural populations and in controlled climate chamber experiments. Epigenetic mechanisms are also correlated to differential growth parameters of diploids and tetraploids. Gene expression patterns change under temperature treatments and are also depending on cytotype. Flexibility in gene regulation mechanisms and in gene expression patterns, and phenotypic plasticity is probably important for the rapid, postglacial acclimation of tetraploids to cold conditions, but may also influence directly or indirectly mode of reproduction.
Publications
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2016. A matter of scale: Apparent niche differentiation of diploid and tetraploid plants may depend on extent and grain of analysis. Journal of Biogeography 43, 716–726
Kirchheimer B, Schinkel CCF, Dellinger A, Klatt S, Moser D, Winkler M, Lenoir J, Caccianiga M, Guisan A, Nieto-Lugilde D, Svenning JC, Wilfried Thuiller W, Vittoz P, Willner W, Zimmermann NE, Hörandl E, Dullinger S
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2016. Correlations of polyploidy and apomixis with elevation and associated environmental gradients in an alpine plant. AoB Plants
Schinkel CCF, Kirchheimer B, Dellinger AS, Klatt S, Winkler M, Dullinger S, Hörandl E
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2016. Niche dynamics of alien species do not differ among sexual and apomictic flowering plants. New Phytologist 209: 1313–1323
Dellinger A, Essl F, Hojsgaard D, Kirchheimer B, Klatt S, Dawson W, Pergl J, Pyšek, P, van Kleunen M, Weber E, Winter M, Hörandl E, Dullinger S
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2017. Pathways to polyploidy: indications of a female triploid bridge in the alpine species Ranunculus kuepferi (Ranunculaceae). Plant Syst. Evol. 303: 1093-1108
Schinkel CCF, Kirchheimer B, Dullinger S, Geelen D, De Storme N, Hörandl E
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2018. Effects of cold treatments on fitness and mode of reproduction in the diploid and polyploid alpine plant Ranunculus kuepferi (Ranunculaceae). Annals of Botany 121: 1287–1298
Klatt, S, Schinkel, CCF, Kirchheimer, B, Dullinger, S, Hörandl, E
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2018. Reconstructing geographical parthenogenesis: effects of niche differentiation and reproductive mode on Holocene range expansion of an alpine plant. Ecol. Letters 21: 392– 401
Kirchheimer B, Wessely J, Gattringer G, Hülber K, Moser D, Schinkel, CCF, Appelhans, M, Klatt, S, Caccianiga, M, Dellinger, AS, Guisan, A, Kuttner, M, Lenoir, J, Maiorano, L, Nieto-Lugilde, D, Plutzar, C, Svenning, JC, Willner, W, Hörandl, E, Dullinger S
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2019. The rise of apomixis in natural plant populations. Frontiers in Plant Science 10: 358
Hojsgaard, D, Hörandl E.
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2020. Effects of temperature treatments on cytosine-methylation profiles of diploid and autotetraploid plants of the alpine species Ranunculus kuepferi (Ranunculaceae). Front. Plant Sci. 11: 435
Syngelaki E, Schinkel CCF, Klatt S, Hörandl E
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2020. Epigenetic Patterns and Geographical Parthenogenesis in the Alpine Plant Species Ranunculus kuepferi (Ranunculaceae). Int. J. Mol. Sci. 21: 3318
Schinkel, CCF; Syngelaki, E; Kirchheimer, B; Dullinger, S, Klatt, S, Hörandl, E
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2020. Phenotypic responses, reproduction mode and epigenetic patterns under temperature treatments in the alpine plant species Ranunculus kuepferi (Ranunculaceae). Biology, 9, 315
Syngelaki E, Daubert M, Klatt S, Hörandl E
