Dataset Information

Soil nutrients and precipitation are major drivers of global patterns of grass leaf silicification.

ABSTRACT: Grasses accumulate high concentrations of silicon (Si) in their tissues, with potential benefits including herbivore defense, improved water balance, and reduced leaf construction costs. Although Si is one of the most widely varying leaf constituents among individuals, species, and ecosystems, the environmental forces driving this variation remain elusive and understudied. To understand relationships between environmental factors and grass Si accumulation better, we analyzed foliar chemistry of grasses from 17 globally distributed sites where nutrient inputs and grazing were manipulated. These sites span natural gradients in temperature, precipitation, and underlying soil properties, which allowed us to assess the relative importance of soil moisture and nutrients across variation in climate. Foliar Si concentration did not respond to large mammalian grazer exclusion, but significant variation in herbivore abundance among sites may have precluded the observation of defoliation effects at these sites. However, nutrient addition consistently reduced leaf Si, especially at sites with low soil nitrogen prior to nutrient addition. Additionally, a leaf-level trade-off between Si and carbon (C) existed that was stronger at arid sites than mesic sites. Our results suggest soil nutrient limitation favors investment in Si over C-based leaf construction, and that fixing C is especially costly relative to assimilating Si when water is limiting. Our results demonstrate the importance of soil nutrients and precipitation as key drivers of global grass silicification patterns.

SUBMITTER: Quigley KM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7317429 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Soil nutrients and precipitation are major drivers of global patterns of grass leaf silicification.

Quigley Kathleen M KM Griffith Daniel M DM Donati George L GL Anderson T Michael TM

Ecology 20200417 6

Grasses accumulate high concentrations of silicon (Si) in their tissues, with potential benefits including herbivore defense, improved water balance, and reduced leaf construction costs. Although Si is one of the most widely varying leaf constituents among individuals, species, and ecosystems, the environmental forces driving this variation remain elusive and understudied. To understand relationships between environmental factors and grass Si accumulation better, we analyzed foliar chemistry of ...[more]

PMID: 32020594

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Project description:Compensatory growth is accelerated compared with normal growth and occurs when growth-limiting conditions are overcome. Most animals, especially fish, are capable of compensatory growth, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Further investigation of the mechanism of compensatory growth in fish is needed to improve feeding efficiency, reduce cost, and explore growth-related genes.In the study, grass carp, an important farmed fish in China, were subjected to a compensatory growth experiment followed by transcriptome analysis by RNA-sequencing. Samples of fish from starved and re-feeding conditions were compared with the control. Under starved conditions, 4061 and 1988 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in muscle and liver tissue when compared the experimental group with control group, respectively. After re-feeding, 349 and 247 DEGs were identified in muscle and liver when the two groups were compared. Moreover, when samples from experimental group in starved and re-feeding conditions were compared, 4903 and 2444 DEGs were found in muscle and liver. Most of these DEGs were involved in metabolic processes, or encoded enzymes or proteins with catalytic activity or binding functions, or involved in metabolic and biosynthetic pathways. A number of the more significant DEGs were subjected to further analysis. Under fasting conditions, many up-regulated genes were associated with protein ubiquitination or degradation, whereas many down-regulated genes were involved in the metabolism of glucose and fatty acids. Under re-feeding conditions, genes participating in muscle synthesis and fatty acid metabolism were up-regulated significantly, and genes related to protein ubiquitination or degradation were down-regulated. Moreover, Several DEGs were random selected for confirmation by real-time quantitative PCR.Global gene expression patterns of grass carp during compensatory growth were determined. To our knowledge, this is a first reported for a teleost fish. The results will enhance our understanding of the mechanism of compensatory growth in teleost fish.

Dataset Information

Soil nutrients and precipitation are major drivers of global patterns of grass leaf silicification.

Publications

Soil nutrients and precipitation are major drivers of global patterns of grass leaf silicification.

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