Dataset Information

Single-gene resolution of diversity-driven overyielding in plant genotype mixtures.

ABSTRACT: In plant communities, diversity often increases productivity and functioning, but the specific underlying drivers are difficult to identify. Most ecological theories attribute positive diversity effects to complementary niches occupied by different species or genotypes. However, the specific nature of niche complementarity often remains unclear, including how it is expressed in terms of trait differences between plants. Here, we use a gene-centred approach to study positive diversity effects in mixtures of natural Arabidopsis thaliana genotypes. Using two orthogonal genetic mapping approaches, we find that between-plant allelic differences at the AtSUC8 locus are strongly associated with mixture overyielding. AtSUC8 encodes a proton-sucrose symporter and is expressed in root tissues. Genetic variation in AtSUC8 affects the biochemical activities of protein variants and natural variation at this locus is associated with different sensitivities of root growth to changes in substrate pH. We thus speculate that - in the particular case studied here - evolutionary divergence along an edaphic gradient resulted in the niche complementarity between genotypes that now drives overyielding in mixtures. Identifying genes important for ecosystem functioning may ultimately allow linking ecological processes to evolutionary drivers, help identify traits underlying positive diversity effects, and facilitate the development of high-performance crop variety mixtures.

SUBMITTER: Wuest SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10250416 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Single-gene resolution of diversity-driven overyielding in plant genotype mixtures.

Wuest Samuel E SE Schulz Lukas L Rana Surbhi S Frommelt Julia J Ehmig Merten M Pires Nuno D ND Grossniklaus Ueli U Hardtke Christian S CS Hammes Ulrich Z UZ Schmid Bernhard B Niklaus Pascal A PA

Nature communications 20230608 1

In plant communities, diversity often increases productivity and functioning, but the specific underlying drivers are difficult to identify. Most ecological theories attribute positive diversity effects to complementary niches occupied by different species or genotypes. However, the specific nature of niche complementarity often remains unclear, including how it is expressed in terms of trait differences between plants. Here, we use a gene-centred approach to study positive diversity effects in ...[more]

PMID: 37291153

Similar Datasets

Project description:Plant species richness and productivity often show a positive relationship, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood, especially at the plant species level. We examined how growing plants in species mixture influences intraspecific rates of short-term carbon (C-) translocation, and determined whether such short-term responses are reflected in biomass yields. We grew monocultures and mixtures of six common C3 grassland plant species in outdoor mesocosms, applied a (13)C-CO(2) pulse in situ to trace assimilated C through plants, into the soil, and back to the atmosphere, and quantified species-specific biomass. Pulse derived (13)C enrichment was highest in the legumes Lotus corniculatus and Trifolium repens, and relocation (i.e. transport from the leaves to other plant parts) of the recently assimilated (13)C was most rapid in T. repens grown in 6-species mixtures. The grass Anthoxanthum odoratum also showed high levels of (13)C enrichment in 6-species mixtures, while (13)C enrichment was low in Lolium perenne, Plantago lanceolata and Achillea millefolium. Rates of C loss through respiration were highest in monocultures of T. repens and relatively low in species mixtures, while the proportion of (13)C in the respired CO(2) was similar in monocultures and mixtures. The grass A. odoratum and legume T. repens were most promoted in 6-species mixtures, and together with L. corniculatus, caused the net biomass increase in 6-species mixtures. These plant species also had highest rates of (13)C-label translocation, and for A. odoratum and T. repens this effect was greatest in plant individuals grown in species mixtures. Our study reveals that short-term plant C translocation can be accelerated in plant individuals of legume and C3 grass species when grown in mixtures, and that this is strongly positively related to overyielding. These results demonstrate a mechanistic coupling between changes in intraspecific plant carbon physiology and increased community level productivity in grassland systems.

Project description:Understanding the mechanisms of community coexistence and ecosystem functioning may help to counteract the current biodiversity loss and its potentially harmful consequences. In recent years, plant-soil feedback that can, for example, be caused by below-ground microorganisms has been suggested to play a role in maintaining plant coexistence and to be a potential driver of the positive relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. Most of the studies addressing these topics have focused on the species level. However, in addition to interspecific interactions, intraspecific interactions might be important for the structure of natural communities. Here, we examine intraspecific coexistence and intraspecific diversity effects using 10 natural accessions of the model species Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. We assessed morphological intraspecific diversity by measuring several above- and below-ground traits. We performed a plant-soil feedback experiment that was based on these trait differences between the accessions in order to determine whether A. thaliana experiences feedback at intraspecific level as a result of trait differences. We also experimentally tested the diversity-productivity relationship at intraspecific level. We found strong differences in above- and below-ground traits between the A. thaliana accessions. Overall, plant-soil feedback occurred at intraspecific level. However, accessions differed in the direction and strength of this feedback: Some accessions grew better on their own soils, some on soils from other accessions. Furthermore, we found positive diversity effects within A. thaliana: Accession mixtures produced a higher total above-ground biomass than accession monocultures. Differences between accessions in their feedback response could not be explained by morphological traits. Therefore, we suggest that they might have been caused by accession-specific accumulated soil communities, by root exudates, or by accession-specific resource use based on genetic differences that are not expressed in morphological traits. Synthesis. Our results provide some of the first evidence for intraspecific plant-soil feedback and intraspecific overyielding. These findings may have wider implications for the maintenance of variation within species and the importance of this variation for ecosystem functioning. Our results highlight the need for an increased focus on intraspecific processes in plant diversity research to fully understand the mechanisms of coexistence and ecosystem functioning.

Project description:The stability of forest productivity is a widely studied phenomenon often associated with tree species diversity. Yet, drivers of stability in forest structure and its consequences for forest productivity remain poorly understood. Using a large (10 ha) young tree diversity experiment, we evaluated how forest structure and multiple dimensions of diversity and composition are related to remotely sensed structural metrics and their stability through the growing season. We then examined whether structural stability (SS) across the growing season (April-October) could explain overyielding (i.e., the net biodiversity effect, NBE) in annual wood productivity. Using Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle-Light Detecting and Ranging (UAV-LiDAR), we surveyed experimental tree communities eight times at regular intervals from before bud break to after leaf senescence to derive metrics associated with canopy height heterogeneity, fractional plant cover, and forest structural complexity (based on fractal geometry). The inverse coefficients of variation for each of these three metrics through the season were used as measures of SS. These metrics were then coupled with annual tree inventories to evaluate their relationships with the NBE. Our findings indicate that wood volume and, to some extent, multiple dimensions of diversity and composition (i.e., taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional) explain remotely sensed metrics of forest structure and their SS. Increases in wood volume as well as functional and phylogenetic diversity and variability (a measure of diversity independent of species richness) were linked to higher SS of forest complexity and canopy height heterogeneity. We further found that higher SS of forest complexity and fractional plant cover were associated with increased overyielding, which was mostly attributable to the complementarity effect. Structural equation models indicate that the stability of structural complexity explains more variation in NBE among plots than dimensions of diversity or variability, highlighting its value as an informative metric that likely integrates multiple drivers associated with overyielding. This study highlights the potential to integrate remote sensing and ecology to disentangle the role of forest SS in shaping ecological processes.

Project description:Backgrounds and aimsA major challenge when supporting the development of intercropping systems remains the design of efficient species mixtures. The ecological processes that sustain overyielding of legume-based mixtures compared to pure crops are well known, but their links to plant traits remain to be unravelled. A common assumption is that enhancing trait divergence among species for resource acquisition when assembling plant mixtures should increase species complementarity and improve community performance.MethodsThe Virtual Grassland model was used to assess how divergence in trait values between species on four physiological functions (namely light and mineral N acquisition, temporal development, and C-N use efficiency) affected overyielding and mixture stability in legume-based binary mixtures. A first step allowed us to identify the model parameters that were most important to interspecies competition. A second step involved testing the impact of convergent and divergent parameter (or trait) values between species on virtual mixture performance.ResultsMaximal overyielding was achieved in cases where trait values were divergent for the physiological functions controlling N acquisition and temporal development but convergent for light interception. It was also found that trait divergence should not affect competitive abilities of legume and non-legumes at random. Indeed, random trait combinations frequently led to reduced mixture yields when compared to a perfectly convergent neutral model. Combinations with the highest overyielding also tended to be associated with mixture instability and decreasing legume biomass proportion. Achieving both high overyielding and mixture stability was only found to be possible under low or moderate N levels, using combinations of traits adapted to each environment.ConclusionsNo simple assembly rule based on trait divergence could be confirmed. Plant models able to infer plant-plant interactions can be helpful for the identification of major interaction traits and the definition of ideotypes adapted to a targeted intercropping system.

Dataset Information

Single-gene resolution of diversity-driven overyielding in plant genotype mixtures.

Publications

Single-gene resolution of diversity-driven overyielding in plant genotype mixtures.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets