Can the identical gene allow adaptation to different environments? : Taking rheophytic and serpentine ecotypes as examples

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K06324
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 45030:Biodiversity and systematics-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo City University
• Principal Investigator: Fukuda Tatsuya 東京都市大学, 理工学部, 教授 (00432815)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 環境適応

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Plants are selected in morphology adapted to various environments, and it has been reported that narrow leaves had been done for plant morphology in the rheophytic zone to avoid river current stress, but it remains unclear the specific differentiation in traits other than leaves in the rheophyte. To clarify the difference in petiole strength and flexibility to avoid the stress, we compared the bending strength between rheophytic Osmunda lancea and its allied inland species O. japonica (Osmundaceae). The results were that the strength of petioles in O. lancea was weaker than those of O. japonica, but the bending in the former was significantly greater in the latter. These are the first report on petiole flexibility for rheophytic adaptation, indicating that the acquisition of both pinnule morphology and petiole flexibility in O. lancea had led to avoid stress by sudden flooding and allowed this species to invade along rivers.

Free Research Field

生物多様性

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで河川沿いにおける植物の水流ストレスの低減戦略は、葉身が細くなる狭葉化のみで説明されていたものの、本研究は茎と葉身を繋ぐ葉柄に焦点を当てて解析した結果、葉柄が柔軟性を獲得していることが世界で初めて示すことができたために、今後は葉身だけではなく葉柄も含めた葉全体で評価することを可能にした。