ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1656812
This article is part of the Research TopicPlant Responses to Environmental ChangeView all 9 articles
Divergent Functional Traits and Gene Expression Profiles in Native and Encroaching Plant Species Across an Alpine Elevational Gradient
Provisionally accepted
- Jilin University, Changchun, China
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The examination of plant adaptive response to their native habitats in light of global climate change is a significant research focus. This study explored the adaptive responses of plants to the alpine tundra environment through the analysis of morphological characteristics, CSR strategy (competitive, stress-tolerator, and ruderal strategies), and comparative transcriptome analysis. In this study, we analyzed a total of 10 native alpine tundra plant species, as well as one encroaching species, Deyeuxia angustifolia, in the Changbai Mountain region. Our findings indicate that dwarf shrubs and herbs in alpine tundra ecosystems sustain defense response, demonstrate immune responses, and activate ubiquitous proteins to adapt to thermal and oxidative stress. Indigenous species possess distinct response pathways to adapt to nitrogen deficiency, cold stimuli, and water scarcity. MYC2, ChiB, PI-PLC, Hsp70, and POD significant factors in the adaptive response of dwarf shrubs and herbs to alpine tundra, indicating the adoption of S-related strategies by native plants. The efficient adaptation to nitrogen deficiency, tolerance to water deficits, and insensitivity to cold stimuli are likely key factors contributing to the proliferation of D. angustifolia in alpine tundra environments. The transcriptional regulatory pressure exerted by traditional stressors (e.g., nitrogen deficiency, water deficit, and cold conditions) on plants may be lower than that of other stressors, and the association between gene expression patterns and species expansion phenomena suggests that traits related to resource acquisition may be one of the potential factors influencing the ecological niche reconfiguration of this species in the tundra. This study emphasizes the convergence of plant adaptive adjustment in alpine tundra ecosystems and provides new foundational research regarding plant adaptive response in harsh environments.
Keywords: plant adaptive adjustment, Alpine tundra, CSR strategy, Transcriptome, Changbai Mountain
Received: 30 Jun 2025; Accepted: 09 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, You, Li, Zhao, Xing, Zhang, Cui, Gong, Zhao and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xia Chen, Jilin University, Changchun, China
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