Genetic basis of metabolic and phenotypic plasticity and its relation to plant fitness

表型可塑性是生物体对环境变化做出表型调整的能力，对于固着植物来说，它是适应快速环境变化的重要特征。虽然可塑性可以提供适应优势和缓解原生环境扰动的负面影响，但其遗传基础在很大程度上仍不清楚。通过利用全球和地方的拟南芥材料，我们将继续我们的研究，揭示可塑性的遗传机制。第一个资助期的结果将是一个经过实验验证的代谢可塑性理论，使我们能够在模拟和测试环境下精确定位影响代谢可塑性和表型可塑性的基因。在第二阶段，我们将进一步对这些基因进行实验表征，并使用收集的数据集来改进模型，以识别控制可塑性的基因。此外，我们将扩展理论框架和实验证据，以了解代谢和表型可塑性与植物适合度之间的关系。

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to modify its phenotype in response to changes in their environment and it is particularly important trait for sessile plants to adapt to rapid environmental changes. Although plasticity can provide fitness advantage and mitigate negative effects of antropogenic environmental perturbations, its genetic basis is still largely unknown. By using global and local accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana, we will continue our research on unraveling the genetic mechanisms of plasticity. The outcome of the first funding period will be an experimentally validated theory of metabolic plasticity that allows us to pinpoint genes which influence metabolic and phenotypic plasticity under simulated and tested environments. In the second phase, we will further experimentally characterize these genes and in addition use the gathered datasets to refine the models for identification of genes controlling plasticity. Moreover, we will expand the theoretical framework and experimental evidence to understand the relationship between metabolic and phenotypic plasticity and plant fitness.