Variation in plastic responses to light results from selection in different competitive environments-A game theoretical approach using virtual plants.

ABSTRACT: Phenotypic plasticity is a vital strategy for plants to deal with changing conditions by inducing phenotypes favourable in different environments. Understanding how natural selection acts on variation in phenotypic plasticity in plants is therefore a central question in ecology, but is often ignored in modelling studies. Here we present a new modelling approach that allows for the analysis of selection for variation in phenotypic plasticity as a response strategy. We assess selection for shade avoidance strategies of Arabidopsis thaliana in response to future neighbour shading signalled through a decrease in red:far-red (R:FR) ratio. For this, we used a spatially explicit 3D virtual plant model that simulates individual Arabidopsis plants competing for light in different planting densities

SUBMITTER: Bongers FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6703680 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature