Thermal cues drive plasticity of desiccation resistance in montane salamanders with implications for climate change.

ABSTRACT: Organisms rely upon external cues to avoid detrimental conditions during environmental change. Rapid water loss, or desiccation, is a universal threat for terrestrial plants and animals, especially under climate change, but the cues that facilitate plastic responses to avoid desiccation are unclear. We integrate acclimation experiments with gene expression analyses to identify the cues that regulate resistance to water loss at the physiological and regulatory level in a montane salamander (Plethodon metcalfi). Here we show that temperature is an important cue for developing a desiccation-resistant phenotype and might act as a reliable cue for organisms across the globe. Gene expression analyses consistently identify regulation of stem cell differentiation and embryonic development of vascu

SUBMITTER: Riddell EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6733842 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature