Coping with alpine habitats: genomic insights into the adaptation strategies of (Caprifoliaceae).

How plants find a way to thrive in alpine habitats remains largely unknown. Here we present a chromosome-level genome assembly for an alpine medicinal herb, (Caprifoliaceae), and 13 transcriptomes from other species of Dipsacales. We detected a whole-genome duplication event in that occurred prior to the diversification of Dipsacales.

Habitat-related plastome evolution in the mycoheterotrophic Neottia listeroides complex (Orchidaceae, Neottieae).

Background: Mycoheterotrophs, acquiring organic carbon and other nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi, have evolved repeatedly with substantial plastid genome (plastome) variations. To date, the fine-scale evolution of mycoheterotrophic plastomes at the intraspecific level is not well-characterized. A few studies have revealed unexpected plastome divergence among species complex members, possibly driven by various biotic/abiotic factors.

DNA Methylation Correlates With Responses of Experimental Populations to Different Flood Regimes.

Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation are considered as an important pathway responsible for phenotypic responses and rapid acclimation of plants to different environments. To search for empirical evidence that DNA methylation is implicated in stress-responses of non-model species, we exposed genetically uniform, experimental populations of the wetland clonal plant to two manipulated flood regimes, i.e.

Correlations between genetic, epigenetic and phenotypic variation of an introduced clonal herb.

Heritable epigenetic modifications may occur in response to environmental variation, further altering phenotypes through gene regulation, without genome sequence changes. However, epigenetic variation in wild plant populations and their correlations with genetic and phenotypic variation remain largely unknown, especially for clonal plants. We investigated genetic, epigenetic and phenotypic variation of ten populations of an introduced clonal herb Hydrocotyle vulgaris in China.

Constraints on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in the clonal plant Hydrocotyle vulgaris.

The evolution of phenotypic plasticity of plant traits may be constrained by costs and limits. However, the precise constraints are still unclear for many traits under different ecological contexts. In a glasshouse experiment, we grew ramets of 12 genotypes of a clonal plant Hydrocotyle vulgaris under the control (full light and no flood), shade and flood conditions and tested the potential costs and limits of plasticity in 13 morphological and physiological traits in response to light availability and flood variation.

Do Amplitudes of Water Level Fluctuations Affect the Growth and Community Structure of Submerged Macrophytes?

Submerged macrophytes are subjected to potential mechanical stresses associated with fluctuating water levels in natural conditions. However, few experimental studies have been conducted to further understand the effects of water level fluctuating amplitude on submerged macrophyte species and their assemblages or communities. We designed a controlled experiment to investigate the responses of three submerged macrophyte species (Hydrilla verticillata, Ceratophyllum demersum and Elodea nuttallii) and their combinations in communities to three amplitudes (static, ± 30 cm, ± 60 cm) of water level fluctuations.