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. 2022 Oct;109(10):1519-1524.
doi: 10.1002/ajb2.16068. Epub 2022 Oct 3.

Phenotypic plasticity made simple, but not too simple

Richard Gomulkiewicz  1 , John R Stinchcombe  2
Affiliations

Phenotypic plasticity made simple, but not too simple

Richard Gomulkiewicz et al. Am J Bot. 2022 Oct.
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The four fundamental elements of phenotypic plasticity and their roles in determining patterns of phenotypic expression realized in nature, ecology (population or community dynamics), and evolution.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Counterexample proving that there is no universal rank‐preserving metric of phenotypic plasticity over more than two environments. Shown are hypothetical reaction norms for two genotypes (G1, G2) over three environments (E1, E2, E3). If plasticity is measured by overall variation, genotype G1 is more plastic than G2. However, were plasticity measured by a genotype's maximal between‐environment difference in expression, genotype G2 ranks above G1.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Gene expression profiles (allelic reaction norms) and resulting phenotypic reaction norms. Left panel: Additive effects of four alleles (A, B, C, D) in each of three environments (E1, E2, E3). Note that allele D has the same effect in all environments, i.e., D is not plastic. Right panel: Phenotypic reaction norms of three diploid genotypes with different combinations of alleles shown in the left panel. The phenotype expressed in each environment is determined by adding the allelic effects. Note that diploid genotype AC is not plastic even though both alleles are individually plastic whereas genotype AD is plastic despite allele D being aplastic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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