The phenotypic variation of living organisms is shaped by genetics, environment, and their interaction. Understanding phenotypic plasticity under natural conditions is hindered by the apparently complex environment and the interacting genes and pathways. Herein, we report findings from the dissection of rice flowering-time plasticity in a genetic mapping population grown in natural long-day field environments. Genetic loci harboring four genes originally discovered for their photoperiodic effects (Hd1, Hd2, Hd5, and Hd6) were found to differentially respond to temperature at the early growth stage to jointly determine flowering time. The effects of these plasticity genes were revealed with multiple reaction norms along the temperature gradient. By coupling genomic selection and the environmental index, accurate performance predictions were obtained. Next, we examined the allelic variation in the four flowering-time genes across the diverse accessions from the 3000 Rice Genomes Project and constructed haplotypes at both individual-gene and multigene levels. The geographic distribution of haplotypes revealed their preferential adaptation to different temperature zones. Regions with lower temperatures were dominated by haplotypes sensitive to temperature changes, whereas the equatorial region had a majority of haplotypes that are less responsive to temperature. By integrating knowledge from genomics, gene cloning and functional characterization, and environment quantification, we propose a conceptual model with multiple levels of reaction norms to help bridge the gaps among individual gene discovery, field-level phenotypic plasticity, and genomic diversity and adaptation.

中文翻译：

---

水稻开花期表型可塑性和全球适应性之间相互作用基因的动态影响。

生物的表型变异受遗传，环境及其相互作用的影响。显然复杂的环境以及相互作用的基因和途径阻碍了在自然条件下了解表型可塑性。在此，我们报告了在自然长日田间环境中生长的遗传作图种群中水稻开花期可塑性的解剖结果。带有四个最初因其光周期效应而发现的基因的基因座（Hd1，Hd2，Hd5和Hd6）被发现在生长的早期对温度有不同的响应，从而共同确定开花时间。这些可塑性基因的作用通过沿温度梯度的多个反应范数得以揭示。通过结合基因组选择和环境指数，获得了准确的性能预测。接下来，我们检查了3000个水稻基因组计划的不同种质中四个开花时间基因的等位基因变异，并构建了单基因和多基因水平的单倍型。单倍型的地理分布表明它们优先适应不同的温度区。较低温度的区域以对温度变化敏感的单倍型为主，而赤道区域的大多数单倍型对温度的响应较弱。通过整合来自基因组学，基因克隆和功能表征以及环境定量的知识，我们提出了一个具有多个反应规范水平的概念模型，以帮助弥合各个基因发现，领域水平的表型可塑性，