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A modular concept of phenotypic plasticity in plants
Hans de Kroon1, Heidrun Huber, Josef F Stuefer
1Department of Ecology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen, the Netherlands. H.deKroon@science.ru.nl
The New Phytologist
|March 12, 2005
Summary
Plant phenotypic plasticity typically occurs at the subindividual level, with modular units like leaves and roots responding to local conditions. Whole-plant responses emerge from the integration of these modular plastic responses.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to adjust to environmental changes.
- In plants, plasticity is often studied at the whole-plant level, but empirical evidence suggests a different mechanism.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose that phenotypic plasticity in plants is primarily expressed at the subindividual (modular) level.
- To explore the implications of modular plasticity for plant responses to environmental variation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and synthesis of empirical evidence.
- Conceptual framework development based on modularity and integration.
Main Results:
- Phenotypic plasticity is proposed to be a property of individual plant modules (meristems, leaves, roots), not the whole plant.
- Local environmental conditions trigger plastic responses in modules.
- Integration and communication between modules modulate these plastic responses, influencing whole-plant outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Whole-plant reaction norms are an emergent property of integrated modular plasticity.
- This perspective has significant implications for understanding plant adaptation, ecology, and evolution.
- Natural selection may act on both local response rules and modular interaction rules.