Genetic differentiation of plants between upper and lower elevations and the role of pollinating insects in maintaining differentiation

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H03300
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 45040:Ecology and environment-related
• Research Institution: Shinshu University
• Principal Investigator: Itino Takao 信州大学, 学術研究院理学系, 教授 (20176291)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 陶山 佳久 東北大学, 農学研究科, 教授 (60282315)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 標高種分化 / 草本植物 / 送粉昆虫 / 遺伝分化 / 生態型

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We tested whether adaptive differentiation between upper and lower elevations leads to genetic differentiation in four bumblebee-pollinated herbaceous species distributed in the Japanese Alps.
In Prunella vulgaris, Lamium album and Aquilegia buergeriana, flower size corresponded to inter-population variation in pollinator size due to differences in the main pollinators at different elevations. No genetic differentiation between upper and lower elevations was detected in these three species, and genetic differentiation was detected among mountain ranges.
In Impatiens noli-tangere, the "early-flowering type" and the "late-flowering type," in which the flowering time and other morphological traits were clearly differentiated between the upper and lower elevations in a narrow range, were parapatrically distributed, and the two types were genetically differentiated. In I. noli-tangere, adaptive differentiation to altitude was associated with genetic differentiation.

Free Research Field

進化生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

標高に伴う側所的な2型の分化が本研究成果により示された。繁殖時期（花期）の違いが2型の側所分化を維持する機構として重要であることも示され、標高間種分化という未開拓の研究分野にとって嚆矢とも見なすべき成果が得られたといえる。この標高間分化の発見は、従来よりも細かい保全単位で山地性植物を保全すべきであるといった政策の見直しにつながりうる基礎情報となる。