Some individuals of pinsapo, a type of fir tree that survived drastic climatic changes in the past, are capable of adapting to changes in the environment thanks to their genetics, according to an international study led by researchers from the Pablo de Olavide and Complutense universities in Madrid.
The most forceful effects of climate change could make some relict fir forests disappear, such as the Spanish fir. Extreme temperatures, increasingly frequent heat waves and more intense droughts force these forest populations to migrate up the mountain slopes where they live in search of more favorable environments. Therefore, the work, published in Tree Physiologyoffers adaptive hope for these living fossils.
For a long time, it has been observed how the Spanish fir populations “climb” up the slopes in search of more favorable climatic conditions. The limitations in its migration to higher altitudes are a cause for concern and have led to the Spanish fir being declared an endangered species according to the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
However, there are Spanish fir individuals in areas affected by drought that persist against all odds. These observations led the group of researchers to wonder if there could be a physiological and/or genetic basis for the higher tolerance to drought of these individuals.
fir
With this question in mind, the researchers designed a novel study capable of monitoring not only the genetic expression and physiological response of the Spanish fir during drought, but also its resilience (that is, its ability to recover once the stress is over). As in the natural environment, two responses were observed: individuals able to recover after stress (resilient) and others unable to recover (sensitive). Next, they analyzed possible physiological and genetic differences, both in expression and in genetic markers, between both responses.
The results show both physiological and genetic differences between resilient and sensitive Spanish fir individuals, which could explain their different ability to tolerate drought. One of the most interesting findings was the role of genes related to epigenetic regulation in resilient individuals.
“Epigenetics is a promising mechanism for rapid adaptation to new climatic conditions, since it does not require new modifications in the DNA sequence. Instead, it consists of the “activation” or “inhibition” of the activity of already existing genes, due to alterations in their chemical structure caused by the environment. These alterations are also heritable, which allows their transmission to future generations. For this reason, it has been hypothesized that it could be a key mechanism in the rapid adaptation of long-lived species with limited migration capacity, such as trees. The results of our work support this hypothesis, although more research is needed to prove it.”explains Irene Cobo, main author of the work that is part of her doctoral thesis at the Complutense University of Madrid.
Useful information for conservation programs
Although there is adaptive potential, as has been seen in the case of the Spanish fir in this work, one of the main concerns about the current climate change is its speed, unprecedented as far as is known. This is due, above all, to the impact of human activity, which can exceed the adaptive potential of many species, especially those with limited migration capacity and long life cycles, such as trees.
The discovery of heritable biomarkers related to resilience to drought, such as those found in this work, makes it possible to accelerate the adaptation of trees to climate change, which is key to the conservation of biodiversity and is useful for the design of conservation programs. conservation, for example, by calling “marker-guided selection of individuals”.
“Essentially, it consists of selecting individuals that naturally have heritable biomarkers that give them resilience to stress factors related to climate change (for example, drought, in the case of the Mediterranean region). These individuals could be used in repopulation or to guide management and conservation programs”Cobo clarifies.
In addition to the Pablo de Olavide University and the Complutense University of Madrid, researchers from the University of California at Davis (USA), the University of Connecticut (USA) and the Barcelona Center for Genomic Regulation have collaborated in this work.
Reference article: https://www.dicyt.com/noticias/la-ressistencia-a-la-sequia-del-pinsapo-esta-escrito-en-sus-genes
