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Evolution during uncorrelated environmental fluctuations: bet-hedging or phenotypic plasticity?

View ORCID ProfileZuzana Sekajova, View ORCID ProfileErlend I. F. Fossen, View ORCID ProfileElena Rosa, View ORCID ProfileIrja I. Ratikainen, Manon Tourniaire-Blum, View ORCID ProfileElisabeth Bolund, View ORCID ProfileMartin I. Lind
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.22.523389
Zuzana Sekajova
1Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Erlend I. F. Fossen
1Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
2Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Elena Rosa
1Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Irja I. Ratikainen
3Department of Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
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Manon Tourniaire-Blum
1Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Elisabeth Bolund
1Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Martin I. Lind
1Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
4Department of Environmental and Biosciences, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden
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  • For correspondence: martin.i.lind@gmail.com
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Abstract

Evolution in fluctuating environments is predicted to select for phenotypic plasticity or bet-hedging, depending on the accuracy of environmental cues and type of fluctuations. While these two alternatives are often contrasted in theoretical studies, their evolution are seldom studied together in empirical work.

We used experimental evolution in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis remanei to simultaneously study the evolution of plasticity and bet-hedging in environments differing only in their temperature variability. We exposed worms for 30 generations to either fast fluctuating or slowly increasing temperature, these two environments had the same average temperature over evolutionary time. After experimental evolution, we scored size at sexual maturity and fitness in full siblings reared in two different temperatures, optimal 20°C and mildly stressful 25°C.

Experimental evolution in the fluctuating environment resulted in the evolution of increased body size plasticity but not increased bet-hedging, compared to evolution in the slowly changing environment. Plasticity followed the temperature size rule as size decreased with increasing temperature and this plastic response was adaptive. In addition, we discovered substantial standing genetic variation in body size, which represents a potential for further evolutionary change.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 22, 2023.
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Evolution during uncorrelated environmental fluctuations: bet-hedging or phenotypic plasticity?
Zuzana Sekajova, Erlend I. F. Fossen, Elena Rosa, Irja I. Ratikainen, Manon Tourniaire-Blum, Elisabeth Bolund, Martin I. Lind
bioRxiv 2023.01.22.523389; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.22.523389
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Evolution during uncorrelated environmental fluctuations: bet-hedging or phenotypic plasticity?
Zuzana Sekajova, Erlend I. F. Fossen, Elena Rosa, Irja I. Ratikainen, Manon Tourniaire-Blum, Elisabeth Bolund, Martin I. Lind
bioRxiv 2023.01.22.523389; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.22.523389

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