Thanks to all involved! @michaelffay.bsky.social @aaronc-research.bsky.social @profsicreer.bsky.social @owengosborne.bsky.social, and Daniel Wood and Sarah Coates!

Our findings have implications for the capacity and predictability of species to persist in the face of anthropogenic change, as organisms with high levels of plasticity may also be much better equipped to deal with rapid environmental change.

We exposed the mine and coastal plants to both salt and zinc, measured changes in the expression of genes in the plant’s roots, and investigated whether the responses fit the patterns we would expect if plasticity has aided adaptation.

It turns out that plasticity to salt has strongly influenced recent adaptation to heavy-metal pollution during parallel colonisation of industrial-era mines by the generally coastal plant species, Silene uniflora.