SPELL - Nematode

Citation	Sikkink KL, Reynolds RM, Ituarte CM, Cresko WA, Phillips PC. Rapid evolution of phenotypic plasticity and shifting thresholds of genetic assimilation in the nematode Caenorhabditis remanei. G3 (Bethesda), 2014.
PubMed ID	24727288
Short Description	Rapid evolution of phenotypic plasticity and shifting thresholds of genetic assimilation in the nematode Caenorhabditis remanei. GEO Record: N.A. Platform: N.A. Download gene-centric, log2 transformed data: WBPaper00046092.cre.rs.csv
# of Conditions	36
Full Description	Many organisms can acclimate to new environments through phenotypic plasticity, a complex trait that can be heritable, subject to selection, and evolve. However, the rate and genetic basis of plasticity evolution remain largely unknown. We experimentally evolved outbred populations of the nematode Caenorhabditis remanei under an acute heat shock during early larval development. When raised in a nonstressful environment, ancestral populations were highly sensitive to a 36.8 heat shock and exhibited high mortality. However, initial exposure to a nonlethal high temperature environment resulted in significantly reduced mortality during heat shock (hormesis). Lines selected for heat shock resistance rapidly evolved the capacity to withstand heat shock in the native environment without any initial exposure to high temperatures, and early exposure to high temperatures did not lead to further increases in heat resistance. This loss of plasticity would appear to have resulted from the genetic assimilation of the heat induction response in the noninducing environment. However, analyses of transcriptional variation via RNA-sequencing from the selected populations revealed no global changes in gene regulation correlated with the observed changes in heat stress resistance. Instead, assays of the phenotypic response across a broader range of temperatures revealed that the induced plasticity was not fixed across environments, but rather the threshold for the response was shifted to higher temperatures over evolutionary time. These results demonstrate that apparent genetic assimilation can result from shifting thresholds of induction across environments and that analysis of the broader environmental context is critically important for understanding the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Experimental Details: RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510986 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510987 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510988 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510989 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510990 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510991 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510992 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510993 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510994 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510995 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510996 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510997 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510998 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX510999 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511000 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511001 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511002 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511003 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511004 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511005 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511006 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511007 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511008 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511009 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511010 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511011 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511012 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511013 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511014 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511015 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511016 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511017 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511018 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511019 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511020 RNASeq.remanei.WBStrain00042077.WBls:0000024.Unknown.WBbt:0007833.SRP040962.SRX511021.
Tags	Method: RNAseq, Species: Caenorhabditis remanei, Topic: gene expression - general