Phenotypic plasticity to drought in seedlings of the warm season grass Panicum coloratum is related to collection site

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of organisms to modify their phenotype in response to environmental changes. We estimated and compared the amount of phenotypic plasticity in response to drought in seedlings of different accessions of two varieties (var. makarikariense and var. coloratum) of Panicum coloratum, an allogamous warm season perennial grass, introduced and collected in sites in Argentina with different precipitation regimes. Amount of phenotypic plasticity was quantified in shoot/root biomass, blade/sheath biomass, specific leaf area and leaf area ratio (leaf area/total biomass) and mean phenotypic plasticity was estimated. The two genetically distinct varieties differed in the phenotypic plasticity of leaf area ratio (p = 0.008, F‐test), with var. makarikariense showing higher phenotypic plasticity. Accessions within varieties differed in phenotypic plasticity of leaf area ratio, specific leaf area, blade/sheath biomass and mean phenotypic plasticity (p < 0.05, F‐test). A strong relationship (r = 0.82, p < 0.01, F‐test) between mean phenotypic plasticity of each accession and precipitation variability was found. Relationships between phenotypic plasticity of blade/sheath biomass and leaf area ratio with annual mean precipitation were r = 0.86 and r = 0.75, respectively (p < 0.05; p < 0.01, F‐test, respectively). Evidence of a decoupling between phenotypic plasticity of above‐ versus belowground characters was apparent; outcomes on the interpretation of the variability in phenotypic plasticity and the potential applications of this variability are presented.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Giordano, Mabel Cristina, Grimoldi, Agustin Alberto, Tomas, Maria Andrea
Format: info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo biblioteca
Language:eng
Published: Wiley 2019-09
Subjects:Plantas Forrajeras, Panicum Coloratum, Plasticidad Fenotípica, Estrés de Sequia, Privación del Agua, Resistencia a la Sequía, Feed Crops, Phenotypic Plasticity, Drought Stress, Water Deprivation, Drought Resistance,
Online Access:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aab.12525
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/5685
https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.12525
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!