美国华盛顿州立大学Xianran Li小组的研究显示，利用公民科学将适应机制的发现语境化。相关论文于2026年5月20日发表在《细胞》杂志上。
通过开发计算机视觉人工智能来处理北美原生栖息地的公民科学观测，研究小组发现了暖季多年生草在高纬度地区开花时间较早的一致纬度趋势。为了探究其潜在的适应机制，小组对同一种柳枝稷进行了普通园林实验，发现了相反的纬度开花时间趋势。将GI-Hd1-FTL1单倍型开花时间调控基因的差异可塑性、单倍型范围和当地环境特征结合起来发现，来自本地栖息地的观察只捕获了普通花园实验中建立的部分基因型-环境表型谱，因此调和了这一差异。两种机制成为塑造当前单倍型范围和影响未来转变的关键力量。他们的研究强调了将公民科学观察与设计实验相结合的力量，以揭示跨时空尺度的适应机制。
据悉，占据广阔地理区域的物种已经进化出多种机制来调节物候特征，从而适应不同的原生栖息地。
附：英文原文
Title: Harnessing citizen science to contextualize adaptation mechanism discovery
Author: Laura E. Tibbs-Cortes, Linqian Han, Jeremy B. Jewell, Puranjit Singh, Haiyan Huang, Ryan Benke, Tony Trieu, Zhou Tang, Soyeon Choi, Jianxin Zhao, Eudald Illa Berenguer, Thomas H. Pendergast, Bing Liu, Tina Le, Kankshita Swaminathan, Xiaoyu Weng, Carson Andorf, Michelle A. Graham, Karen Sanguinet, Zhiwu Zhang, Laura E. Bartley, Yin Bao, Wayne Parrott, Katrien M. Devos, Thomas Juenger, Jianming Yu, Xianran Li
Issue&Volume: 2026-05-20
Abstract: Species occupying broad geographic regions have evolved multiple mechanisms to regulate phenological characteristics, enabling adaptations to diverse native habitats. By developing computer vision AI to process citizen science observations across native habitats over North America, we uncovered a consistent latitudinal trend of earlier flowering at higher latitudes in warm-season perennial grasses. To explore the underlying mechanisms of adaptation, we conducted common garden experiments with one species (switchgrass) and discovered the opposite latitudinal flowering-time trend. Integration of differential plasticity of GI-Hd1-FTL1 haplotypes of flowering time regulatory genes, haplotype range, and local environmental profiles found that observations from native habitats capture only part of the genotype-environment-phenotype spectrum established in common garden experiments, therefore reconciling the discrepancy. Two mechanisms emerged as key forces shaping current haplotype ranges and influencing future shifts. Our study highlights the power of combining citizen science observations with designed experiments to uncover mechanisms of adaptation across spatiotemporal scales.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.04.039
Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(26)00506-4