Gene Expression Divergence in Eugenia uniflora Highlights Adaptation across Contrasting Atlantic Forest Ecosystems

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 19; p. 2719
• Main Authors: Turchetto-Zolet, Andreia C, Salgueiro, Fabiano, Guzman, Frank, Vetö, Nicole M, Rodrigues, Nureyev F, Balbinott, Natalia, Margis-Pinheiro, Marcia, Margis, Rogerio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 28.09.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: abiotic stress; Adaptation; Atlantic Forest; Climate change; Climatic changes; Comparative analysis; Divergence; Ecological niches; Ecosystems; Environmental aspects; Environmental changes; Environmental conditions; Eugenia uniflora; Evolution; Evolution & development; Evolutionary genetics; Forest ecology; Forest ecosystems; Forests; Gene expression; Gene regulation; Genes; Genetic aspects; Global climate; Greenhouses; Identification and classification; Light intensity; local adaptation; Luminous intensity; Morphology; Myrtaceae; Myrteae tribe; Neotropics; Niche (Ecology); Niches; Nutrient transport; Offspring; Physiological aspects; Plant genetics; Plant layout; Plants; Population studies; Populations; Riparian environments; Riparian forests; Terrestrial ecosystems; Transcriptomes; Brazil; Atlantic Forest; Myrteae tribe; local adaptation; Atlantic Forest; Neotropics; environmental changes; abiotic stress
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants13192719

Understanding the evolution and the effect of plasticity in plant responses to environmental changes is crucial to combat global climate change. It is particularly interesting in species that survive in distinct environments, such as which thrives in contrasting ecosystems within the Atlantic Forest (AF). In this study, we combined transcriptome analyses of plants growing in nature (Restinga and Riparian Forest) with greenhouse experiments to unveil the DEGs within and among adaptively divergent populations of . We compared global gene expression among plants from two distinct ecological niches. We found many differentially expressed genes between the two populations in natural and greenhouse-cultivated environments. The changes in how genes are expressed may be related to the species' ability to adapt to specific environmental conditions. The main difference in gene expression was observed when plants from Restinga were compared with their offspring cultivated in greenhouses, suggesting that there are distinct selection pressures underlying the local environmental and ecological factors of each Restinga and Riparian Forest ecosystem. Many of these genes engage in the stress response, such as water and nutrient transport, temperature, light intensity, and gene regulation. The stress-responsive genes we found are potential genes for selection in these populations. These findings revealed the adaptive potential of and contributed to our understanding of the role of gene expression reprogramming in plant evolution and niche adaptation.