Data from: Caloric restriction-mediated reproductive lifespan extension across multiple strains of the clonal aquatic plant Lemna turionifera
Data files
Nov 24, 2025 version files 32.34 KB
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CR_strains_daily_reproduction_2025_03_08.csv
28.06 KB
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CR_strains_temperature_2025_03_08.csv
534 B
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README.md
3.75 KB
Abstract
Lifespan extension due to caloric restriction (CR) is a well-established aspect of animal senescence that has been observed in many taxa. Contrastingly, there is much less evidence in plants, even though it is straightforward to manipulate CR by restricting photosynthesis through reduction in light intensity. One of the few studies to report CR-mediated plant lifespan extension investigated reproductive lifespan in a single strain of the duckweed Lemna minor, a tiny, floating, aquatic plant. Here, with an aim of beginning to test the generality of this phenomenon in plants, we considered a congeneric species, L. turionifera, and examined CR-mediated lifespan extension in eight strains collected from Alberta, Canada. We grew plants in the lab under axenic conditions, and manipulated light intensity (and hence, putatively, CR) with neutral density filters. Plants that grew under dimmer conditions had longer reproductive lifespans, on average, than those that grew under brighter conditions, consistent with CR-mediated lifespan extension. However, this came at the expense of a reduction in the capacity to contribute to population growth: plants in dimmer conditions produced about the same total offspring spread across their longer lifespans, leading to a reduced intrinsic rate of increase, measured at the level of the individual. Expanding the taxonomic scope of studies on CR-mediated lifespan extension—especially in plants—remains an important goal in senescence research.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rv15dv4n7
Description of the data and file structure
There are two data files (.csv) and one code file (.r):
"CR_strains_daily_reproduction_2025_03_08.csv" contains daily reproduction data for Lemna turionifera plants in our experiment
"CR_strains_temperature_2025_03_08.csv" contains temperature data for our experimental setup under bright light and dim light conditions
"CR_strains_analysis_2025_11_21.r" contains R code for data analysis
Files and variables
File: CR_strains_daily_reproduction_2025_03_08.csv
Description: Data file associated with our daily reproduction observations (see main text in our article). It has 112 rows (not including the header row) and 76 columns.
Variables
- id: ID number of the experimental subject.
- strain: The Lemna turionifera strain to which the experimental subject belonged (format: Anz = Anz C = Anzac C, Cam = Cam C = Camrose C, Elk = Elk C = Elkwater C, Keh = Keh C = Kehiwin C, Mch = Mch C = Michelsen Marsh C, Prk = Prk C = Park Lake C, Stn = Stn C = Saskatoon Island C, Yng = Yng C = Young's Point C).
- position: The spatial position of the experimental subject during the main experiment (format: X.Y.Z, where X = tray number, Y = row number, Z = column number).
- light.treatment: Light treatment (format: L01 = full light [L1], L04 = quarter light [L1/4]).
- date.birth: Date of birth of the experimental subject (format: MMM.DD.YYYY).
- date.last.repro: Date of last reproduction of the experimental subject (format: MMM.DD.YYYY).
- Status: Status of the experimental subject at the end of the experiment (format: DEAD = experimental subject tracked until death, NOT_FOCAL = clonal lineage died out before producing an experimental subject, NO_REPRO = the experimental subject never reproduced, TRUNCATED = experimental subject's data collection was truncated before death (e.g., due to contamination)).
- Exclude: Whether or not the experimental subject was excluded from analysis (format: Yes = experimental subject excluded, No = experimental subject not excluded).
- Sep.23.2024 to Nov.29.2024 [68 columns]: Number of offspring produced by the experimental subject on the date given by the column header (date/header format: MMM.DD.YYYY; data values format: [number] = number of offspring produced, NA = no data (typically because (1) the date was before the experimental subject was born or after it died, or (2) the experimental subject was excluded from data analysis and did not have data associated with it on a particular date).
File: CR_strains_temperature_2025_03_08.csv
Description: Data file associated with the measurement of temperature (see Appendix B in our article). It has 20 rows (not including the header row) and five columns.
Variables
- ID: ID number of the experimental subject whose neutral density filter was tested.
- filter.position: The spatial position of the experimental subject during the main experiment (format: XYZ, where X = tray number, Y = row number, Z = column number).
- treatment: Light treatment (format: 1 = full light [L1], 4 = quarter light [L1/4]).
- temp.position: The spatial position of the experimental subject during temperature data collection (format: XYZ, where X = tray number, Y = row number, Z = column number).
- temperature: Temperature in degrees Celsius.
Code/software
"CR_strains_analysis_2025_11_21.R" is R code that analyzes the data and creates figures (except Fig. 1) based on the data files. It is available on Zenodo.