Dataset Information

Transcriptome of Tribolium castaneum selection lines (control-, drought-, heat-, heat/drought-adapted) under different climatic conditions

ABSTRACT: We studied plastic and evolutionary responses in gene expression of Tribolium castaneum after beetles’ exposure to new environments that differed from ancestral control conditions in temperature, humidity or both. Using experimental evolution with ten replicated lines per condition, we were able to demonstrate adaptation (higher offspring number compared to control lines) after 20 generations. We measured whole-transcriptome gene expression with RNA-seq to infer evolutionary and plastic changes. We found more evidence for changes in mean expression (shift in the intercept of reaction norms) in adapted lines than for changes in plasticity (shifts in slopes). Plasticity was mainly preserved in selected lines and was responsible for a large part of the phenotypic divergence in expression between ancestral and new conditions. However, we found that genes with the largest evolutionary changes in expression also evolved reduced plasticity and often showed expression levels closer to the ancestral stage. Results obtained in the three different conditions were similar, suggesting that restoration of ancestral expression levels during adaptation is a general evolutionary pattern. With a larger sample in the most stressful condition, we were able to detect a positive correlation between proportion of genes with reversion of the ancestral plastic response and mean fitness per selection line.

ORGANISM(S): Tribolium castaneum

PROVIDER: GSE156256 | GEO | 2020/08/15

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Current projections for global climate change predict an increase in the intensity and frequency of heat waves and droughts. The improvement in our understanding of the mechanisms of how trees precisely can predict environmental threats and cope with these stresses benefits our natural selection or genetic improvement to the maintenance of forest sustainability. In this work, we investigate the metabolic changes in heat and drought combined stress in Pinus pinaster plantlets. Maritime pine is a coniferous tree with native populations distributed across the European Atlantic and Mediterranean basins and the north of Africa ranging from cool moist to warm dry climates. This species shows high plasticity and a contrasting adaptive capacity and resilience. This plasticity in the response to stress exposure may be associated with a differential ability to modulate their secondary metabolism. For this reason, the current study aims to investigate the gradual and synergetic metabolomic response using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based on untargeted metabolomic profiling of four stress levels. These metabolic profiles were supported by physiological and biochemical determinations. Our results showed that the metabolic profiles induced by low-stress exposition represent an adaptive conditioning mode with metabolome changes that help seedlings to cope with upcoming stress. The metabolism pathways involved in this response were mainly included in amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism leading to an enhanced accumulation of phenolics, flavonoids, and terpenoids. However, when the plantlets were exposed to higher-stress exposition, the secondary metabolites that starred the response are more complex and decorated, such as alkaloids, lignans, and glycosyloxyflavones. Those changes could help to maintain homeostasis and control the response magnitude on establishing and facilitating the plantlets’ survival. Overall, our findings provide new insights into the responsive mechanisms of the maritime pine under heat and drought stress in terms of metabolic profiles.

Dataset Information

Transcriptome of Tribolium castaneum selection lines (control-, drought-, heat-, heat/drought-adapted) under different climatic conditions

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure