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Car C, Quevarec L, Gilles A, Réale D, Bonzom JM. Evolutionary approach for pollution study: The case of ionizing radiation. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 349:123692. [PMID: 38462194 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
Estimating the consequences of environmental changes, specifically in a global change context, is essential for conservation issues. In the case of pollutants, the interest in using an evolutionary approach to investigate their consequences has been emphasized since the 2000s, but these studies remain rare compared to the characterization of direct effects on individual features. We focused on the study case of anthropogenic ionizing radiation because, despite its potential strong impact on evolution, the scarcity of evolutionary approaches to study the biological consequences of this stressor is particularly true. In this study, by investigating some particular features of the biological effects of this stressor, and by reviewing existing studies on evolution under ionizing radiation, we suggest that evolutionary approach may help provide an integrative view on the biological consequences of ionizing radiation. We focused on three topics: (i) the mutagenic properties of ionizing radiation and its disruption of evolutionary processes, (ii) exposures at different time scales, leading to an interaction between past and contemporary evolution, and (iii) the special features of contaminated areas called exclusion zones and how evolution could match field and laboratory observed effects. This approach can contribute to answering several key issues in radioecology: to explain species differences in the sensitivity to ionizing radiation, to improve our estimation of the impacts of ionizing radiation on populations, and to help identify the environmental features impacting organisms (e.g., interaction with other pollution, migration of populations, anthropogenic environmental changes). Evolutionary approach would benefit from being integrated to the ecological risk assessment process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clément Car
- Laboratoire de Recherche sur Les Effets des Radionucléides sur L'écosystème (LECO), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Saint-Paul Lèz Durance, France
| | - Loïc Quevarec
- Laboratoire de Recherche sur Les Effets des Radionucléides sur L'écosystème (LECO), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Saint-Paul Lèz Durance, France.
| | - André Gilles
- UMR Risques, ECOsystèmes, Vulnérabilité, Environnement, Résilience (RECOVER), Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Marseille, France
| | - Denis Réale
- Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université Du Québec à Montréal, (UQAM), Montréal, Canada
| | - Jean-Marc Bonzom
- Laboratoire de Recherche sur Les Effets des Radionucléides sur L'écosystème (LECO), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Saint-Paul Lèz Durance, France
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2
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Langford N, Fargeot L, Blanchet S. Spatial covariation between genetic and epigenetic diversity in wild plant and animal populations: a meta-analysis. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb246009. [PMID: 38449323 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Epigenetic variation may be crucial in understanding the structure of wild populations, thereby aiding in their management and conservation. However, the relationship between epigenetic and genetic variation remains poorly understood, especially in wild populations. To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis of studies that examined the genetic and epigenetic structures of wild plant and animal populations. We aimed to determine whether epigenetic variation is spatially independent of genetic variation in the wild and to highlight the conditions under which epigenetic variation might be informative. We show a significant positive correlation between genetic and epigenetic pairwise differentiation, indicating that in wild populations, epigenetic diversity is closely linked to genetic differentiation. The correlation was weaker for population pairs that were weakly differentiated genetically, suggesting that in such cases, epigenetic marks might be independent of genetic marks. Additionally, we found that global levels of genetic and epigenetic differentiation were similar across plant and animal populations, except when populations were weakly differentiated genetically. In such cases, epigenetic differentiation was either higher or lower than genetic differentiation. Our results suggest that epigenetic information is particularly relevant in populations that have recently diverged genetically or are connected by gene flow. Future studies should consider the genetic structure of populations when inferring the role of epigenetic diversity in local adaptation in wild populations. Furthermore, there is a need to identify the factors that sustain the links between genetic and epigenetic diversity to improve our understanding of the interplay between these two forms of variation in wild populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia Langford
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier (UPS); Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UAR 2029, F-09200 Moulis, France
| | - Laura Fargeot
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier (UPS); Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UAR 2029, F-09200 Moulis, France
| | - Simon Blanchet
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier (UPS); Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UAR 2029, F-09200 Moulis, France
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3
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Venney CJ, Mérot C, Normandeau E, Rougeux C, Laporte M, Bernatchez L. Epigenetic and Genetic Differentiation Between Coregonus Species Pairs. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae013. [PMID: 38271269 PMCID: PMC10849188 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic diversification is classically associated with genetic differentiation and gene expression variation. However, increasing evidence suggests that DNA methylation is involved in evolutionary processes due to its phenotypic and transcriptional effects. Methylation can increase mutagenesis and could lead to increased genetic divergence between populations experiencing different environmental conditions for many generations, though there has been minimal empirical research on epigenetically induced mutagenesis in diversification and speciation. Whitefish, freshwater members of the salmonid family, are excellent systems to study phenotypic diversification and speciation due to the repeated divergence of benthic-limnetic species pairs serving as natural replicates. Here we investigate whole genome genetic and epigenetic differentiation between sympatric benthic-limnetic species pairs in lake and European whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis and Coregonus lavaretus) from four lakes (N = 64). We found considerable, albeit variable, genetic and epigenetic differences between species pairs. All SNP types were enriched at CpG sites supporting the mutagenic nature of DNA methylation, though C>T SNPs were most common. We also found an enrichment of overlaps between outlier SNPs with the 5% highest FST between species and differentially methylated loci. This could possibly represent differentially methylated sites that have caused divergent genetic mutations between species, or divergent selection leading to both genetic and epigenetic variation at these sites. Our results support the hypothesis that DNA methylation contributes to phenotypic divergence and mutagenesis during whitefish speciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare J Venney
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Claire Mérot
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Canada
- UMR 6553 Ecobio, OSUR, CNRS, Université de Rennes, Rennes, France
| | - Eric Normandeau
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Clément Rougeux
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Martin Laporte
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Canada
- Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP), Québec, Québec, Canada
| | - Louis Bernatchez
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Canada
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Gowri V, Monteiro A. Acquired preferences for a novel food odor do not become stronger or stable after multiple generations of odor feeding in Bicyclus anynana butterfly larvae. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1531:84-94. [PMID: 38113288 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Many herbivorous insects have specific host-plant preferences, and it is unclear how these preferences evolved. Previously, we found that Bicyclus anynana larvae can learn to prefer novel food odors from eating leaves with those odors and transmit those learned preferences to the next generation. It is uncertain whether such acquired odor preferences can increase across generations of repeated odor feeding and be maintained even in the absence of odor. In this study, we fed larvae with novel banana odor-coated leaves (odor-fed larvae) for five consecutive generations, without selection on behavioral choices, and measured how larval innate preferences changed over time. Then, we removed the odor stimulus from a larval subgroup, while the other group continued to be odor-fed. Our results show that larvae learned to prefer the novel odor within a generation of odor feeding and transmitted the learned preference to the next generation, as previously found. Odor-fed larvae preferred odor significantly more compared to control larvae across five generations of repeated odor or control feeding. However, this led neither to increased odor preference, nor its stabilization. This suggests that when butterfly larvae feed on a new host, a preference for that novel food plant may develop and be transmitted to the next generation, but this preference lasts for a single generation and disappears once the odor stimulus is removed.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Gowri
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Antónia Monteiro
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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Levis NA, Ragsdale EJ. A histone demethylase links the loss of plasticity to nongenetic inheritance and morphological change. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8439. [PMID: 38114491 PMCID: PMC10730525 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44306-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Plasticity is a widespread feature of development, enabling phenotypic change based on the environment. Although the evolutionary loss of plasticity has been linked both theoretically and empirically to increased rates of phenotypic diversification, molecular insights into how this process might unfold are generally lacking. Here, we show that a regulator of nongenetic inheritance links evolutionary loss of plasticity in nature to changes in plasticity and morphology as selected in the laboratory. Across nematodes of Diplogastridae, which ancestrally had a polyphenism, or discrete plasticity, in their feeding morphology, we use molecular evolutionary analyses to screen for change associated with independent losses of plasticity. Having inferred a set of ancestrally polyphenism-biased genes from phylogenetically informed gene-knockouts and gene-expression comparisons, selection signatures associated with plasticity's loss identify the histone H3K4 di/monodemethylase gene spr-5/LSD1/KDM1A. Manipulations of this gene affect both sensitivity and variation in plastic morphologies, and artificial selection of manipulated lines drive multigenerational shifts in these phenotypes. Our findings thus give mechanistic insight into how traits are modified as they traverse the continuum of greater to lesser environmental sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas A Levis
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
| | - Erik J Ragsdale
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
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de Carvalho CF, Slate J, Villoutreix R, Soria-Carrasco V, Riesch R, Feder JL, Gompert Z, Nosil P. DNA methylation differences between stick insect ecotypes. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:6809-6823. [PMID: 37864542 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/23/2023]
Abstract
Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, can influence gene regulation and affect phenotypic variation, raising the possibility that they contribute to ecological adaptation. Beginning to address this issue requires high-resolution sequencing studies of natural populations to pinpoint epigenetic regions of potential ecological and evolutionary significance. However, such studies are still relatively uncommon, especially in insects, and are mainly restricted to a few model organisms. Here, we characterize patterns of DNA methylation for natural populations of Timema cristinae adapted to two host plant species (i.e. ecotypes). By integrating results from sequencing of whole transcriptomes, genomes and methylomes, we investigate whether environmental, host and genetic differences of these stick insects are associated with methylation levels of cytosine nucleotides in the CpG context. We report an overall genome-wide methylation level for T. cristinae of ~14%, with methylation being enriched in gene bodies and impoverished in repetitive elements. Genome-wide DNA methylation variation was strongly positively correlated with genetic distance (relatedness), but also exhibited significant host-plant effects. Using methylome-environment association analysis, we pinpointed specific genomic regions that are differentially methylated between ecotypes, with these regions being enriched for genes with functions in membrane processes. The observed association between methylation variation and genetic relatedness, and with the ecologically important variable of host plant, suggests a potential role for epigenetic modification in T. cristinae adaptation. To substantiate such adaptive significance, future studies could test whether methylation can be transmitted across generations and the extent to which it responds to experimental manipulation in field and laboratory studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jon Slate
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | | | | | - Rüdiger Riesch
- University of Montpellier, CEFE, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
- Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Jeffrey L Feder
- Department of Biology, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA
| | | | - Patrik Nosil
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- University of Montpellier, CEFE, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
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7
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Venney CJ, Anastasiadi D, Wellenreuther M, Bernatchez L. The Evolutionary Complexities of DNA Methylation in Animals: From Plasticity to Genetic Evolution. Genome Biol Evol 2023; 15:evad216. [PMID: 38015807 PMCID: PMC10701099 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evad216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 10/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The importance of DNA methylation in plastic responses to environmental change and evolutionary dynamics is increasingly recognized. Here, we provide a Perspective piece on the diverse roles of DNA methylation on broad evolutionary timescales, including (i) short-term transient acclimation, (ii) stable phenotypic evolution, and (iii) genomic evolution. We show that epigenetic responses vary along a continuum, ranging from short-term acclimatory responses in variable environments within a generation to long-term modifications in populations and species. DNA methylation thus unlocks additional potential for organisms to rapidly acclimate to their environment over short timeframes. If these changes affect fitness, they can circumvent the need for adaptive changes at the genome level. However, methylation has a complex reciprocal relationship with genetic variation as it can be genetically controlled, yet it can also induce point mutations and contribute to genomic evolution. When habitats remain constant over many generations, or populations are separated across habitats, initially plastic phenotypes can become hardwired through epigenetically facilitated mutagenesis. It remains unclear under what circumstances plasticity contributes to evolutionary outcomes, and when plastic changes will become permanently encoded into genotype. We highlight how studies investigating the evolution of epigenetic plasticity need to carefully consider how plasticity in methylation state could evolve among different evolutionary scenarios, the possible phenotypic outcomes, its effects on genomic evolution, and the proximate energetic and ultimate fitness costs of methylation. We argue that accumulating evidence suggests that DNA methylation can contribute toward evolution on various timescales, spanning a continuum from acclimatory plasticity to genomic evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare J Venney
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative des Systèmes (IBIS), Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Dafni Anastasiadi
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Nelson Research Centre, Nelson, New Zealand
| | - Maren Wellenreuther
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Nelson Research Centre, Nelson, New Zealand
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Louis Bernatchez
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative des Systèmes (IBIS), Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
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Fallet M, Wilson R, Sarkies P. Cisplatin exposure alters tRNA-derived small RNAs but does not affect epimutations in C. elegans. BMC Biol 2023; 21:276. [PMID: 38031056 PMCID: PMC10688063 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01767-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The individual lifestyle and environment of an organism can influence its phenotype and potentially the phenotype of its offspring. The different genetic and non-genetic components of the inheritance system and their mutual interactions are key mechanisms to generate inherited phenotypic changes. Epigenetic changes can be transmitted between generations independently from changes in DNA sequence. In Caenorhabditis elegans, epigenetic differences, i.e. epimutations, mediated by small non-coding RNAs, particularly 22G-RNAs, as well as chromatin have been identified, and their average persistence is three to five generations. In addition, previous research showed that some epimutations had a longer duration and concerned genes that were enriched for multiple components of xenobiotic response pathways. These results raise the possibility that environmental stresses might change the rate at which epimutations occur, with potential significance for adaptation. RESULTS In this work, we explore this question by propagating C. elegans lines either in control conditions or in moderate or high doses of cisplatin, which introduces genotoxic stress by damaging DNA. Our results show that cisplatin has a limited effect on global small non-coding RNA epimutations and epimutations in gene expression levels. However, cisplatin exposure leads to increased fluctuations in the levels of small non-coding RNAs derived from tRNA cleavage. We show that changes in tRNA-derived small RNAs may be associated with gene expression changes. CONCLUSIONS Our work shows that epimutations are not substantially altered by cisplatin exposure but identifies transient changes in tRNA-derived small RNAs as a potential source of variation induced by genotoxic stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Fallet
- Department of Biochemistry, Evolutionary Epigenetics Group, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, University of Oxford, South Parks Rd., Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK.
- Man-Technology-Environment Research Centre (MTM), School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, Fakultetsgatan 1, 70182, Örebro, Sweden.
| | - Rachel Wilson
- Department of Biochemistry, Evolutionary Epigenetics Group, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, University of Oxford, South Parks Rd., Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK
| | - Peter Sarkies
- Department of Biochemistry, Evolutionary Epigenetics Group, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, University of Oxford, South Parks Rd., Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK.
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Korshunova T, Grøtan VV, Johnson KB, Bakken T, Picton BE, Martynov A. Similar Ones Are Not Related and Vice Versa—New Dendronotus Taxa (Nudibranchia: Dendronotidae) from the North Atlantic Ocean Provide a Platform for Discussion of Global Marine Biodiversity Patterns. DIVERSITY 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/d15040504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2023]
Abstract
One new species of the genus Dendronotus (Nudibranchia: Dendronotidae) is described from Norway and Northern Ireland, as well as from the adjacent North Sea, and one new subspecies of Dendronotus arcticus is described from Norway by applying a combination of fine-scale morphological and molecular phylogenetic data. The present case demonstrates multilevel morphological and molecular similarities and differences considering on the one hand a grouping of three similar looking sympatric taxa (D. yrjargul, D. arcticus gartensis n. subsp. and D. keatleyae n. sp.), and on the other hand two different looking apparently allopatric subspecies (D. arcticus arcticus and D. arcticus gartensis n. subsp.). The type species of the genus, D. frondosus, which is the commonest dendronotid in Norway and the United Kingdom, consistently demonstrates substantial molecular and fine-scale morphological differences from D. keatleyae n. sp. The present study, apart from providing purely taxonomic information, also provides new data for a broad discussion of global biodiversity patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Torkild Bakken
- NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Bernard E. Picton
- National Museums Northern Ireland, Holywood BT18 0EU, UK
- Marine Laboratory, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT22 1PF, Northern Ireland, UK
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Gouin N, Notte AM, Kolok AS, Bertin A. Pesticide exposure affects DNA methylation patterns in natural populations of a mayfly. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 864:161096. [PMID: 36572299 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Chemical pollutants derived from agricultural activities represent a major threat to freshwater biota. Despite growing evidence involving epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation, in response to pesticide contamination in agroecosystems, research on wild populations of non-model species remains scarce, particularly for endemic freshwater arthropods. Using the MethylRAD method, this study investigates whether exposure to pesticide contamination in natural populations of the endemic mayfly A. torrens produces genome wide changes in levels of DNA methylation. From a total of 1,377,147 MethylRAD markers produced from 285 specimens collected at 30 different study sites along the Limarí watershed of north-central Chile, six showed significant differential methylation between populations exposed and unexposed to pesticides. In all cases the effect of pesticides was positive, independent and stronger than the effects detected for other spatial and environmental factors. Only one candidate marker appeared correlated significantly with additional variables, nitrate and calcium levels, which also reflects the impact of agrichemicals and could additionally suggest, to a lower extent, antagonistic effects of mineral salts concentration for this specific marker. These results suggest that the effect of pesticide exposure on methylation levels is apparent at these six MethylRAD markers in A. torrens populations. Such data is challenging to obtain in natural populations and is, for the most part, lacking in ecotoxicological studies. Our study shows that DNA methylation processes are involved in the response to pesticide contamination in populations of the mayfly A. torrens in their natural habitat, and provides new evidence regarding the impact of pesticide contamination and agricultural activities on the endemic fauna of lotic ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Gouin
- Instituto de Investigación Multidisciplinar en Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad de La Serena, Raúl Bitrán 1305, La Serena, Chile; Departamento de Biología, Universidad de La Serena, Raúl Bitrán 1305, La Serena, Chile; Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Raúl Bitrán 1305, La Serena, Chile.
| | - Ana-Maria Notte
- Programa de doctorado en Biología y Ecología Aplicada, Departamento de Biología, Universidad de La Serena, Raúl Bitrán 1305, La Serena, Chile
| | - Alan S Kolok
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3002, United States
| | - Angéline Bertin
- Departamento de Biología, Universidad de La Serena, Raúl Bitrán 1305, La Serena, Chile
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11
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Wilson R, Le Bourgeois M, Perez M, Sarkies P. Fluctuations in chromatin state at regulatory loci occur spontaneously under relaxed selection and are associated with epigenetically inherited variation in C. elegans gene expression. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1010647. [PMID: 36862744 PMCID: PMC10013927 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Some epigenetic information can be transmitted between generations without changes in the underlying DNA sequence. Changes in epigenetic regulators, termed epimutations, can occur spontaneously and be propagated in populations in a manner reminiscent of DNA mutations. Small RNA-based epimutations occur in C. elegans and persist for around 3-5 generations on average. Here, we explored whether chromatin states also undergo spontaneous change and whether this could be a potential alternative mechanism for transgenerational inheritance of gene expression changes. We compared the chromatin and gene expression profiles at matched time points from three independent lineages of C. elegans propagated at minimal population size. Spontaneous changes in chromatin occurred in around 1% of regulatory regions each generation. Some were heritable epimutations and were significantly enriched for heritable changes in expression of nearby protein-coding genes. Most chromatin-based epimutations were short-lived but a subset had longer duration. Genes subject to long-lived epimutations were enriched for multiple components of xenobiotic response pathways. This points to a possible role for epimutations in adaptation to environmental stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Wilson
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, London, United Kingdom.,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Marcos Perez
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Sarkies
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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12
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Edelaar P, Otsuka J, Luque VJ. A generalised approach to the study and understanding of adaptive evolution. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:352-375. [PMID: 36223883 PMCID: PMC10091731 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Evolutionary theory has made large impacts on our understanding and management of the world, in part because it has been able to incorporate new data and new insights successfully. Nonetheless, there is currently a tension between certain biological phenomena and mainstream evolutionary theory. For example, how does the inheritance of molecular epigenetic changes fit into mainstream evolutionary theory? Is niche construction an evolutionary process? Is local adaptation via habitat choice also adaptive evolution? These examples suggest there is scope (and perhaps even a need) to broaden our views on evolution. We identify three aspects whose incorporation into a single framework would enable a more generalised approach to the understanding and study of adaptive evolution: (i) a broadened view of extended phenotypes; (ii) that traits can respond to each other; and (iii) that inheritance can be non-genetic. We use causal modelling to integrate these three aspects with established views on the variables and mechanisms that drive and allow for adaptive evolution. Our causal model identifies natural selection and non-genetic inheritance of adaptive parental responses as two complementary yet distinct and independent drivers of adaptive evolution. Both drivers are compatible with the Price equation; specifically, non-genetic inheritance of parental responses is captured by an often-neglected component of the Price equation. Our causal model is general and simplified, but can be adjusted flexibly in terms of variables and causal connections, depending on the research question and/or biological system. By revisiting the three examples given above, we show how to use it as a heuristic tool to clarify conceptual issues and to help design empirical research. In contrast to a gene-centric view defining evolution only in terms of genetic change, our generalised approach allows us to see evolution as a change in the whole causal structure, consisting not just of genetic but also of phenotypic and environmental variables.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pim Edelaar
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemical Engineering, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Carretera Utrera km.1, 41013, Seville, Spain.,Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Thunbergsvägen 2, SE-75238, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jun Otsuka
- Department of Philosophy, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Hommachi, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.,RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, 1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Tokyo, 103-0027, Japan
| | - Victor J Luque
- Department of Philosophy, University of Valencia, Av. de Blasco Ibáñez, 30, 46010, València, Spain
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Chou JY, Hsu PC, Leu JY. Enforcement of Postzygotic Species Boundaries in the Fungal Kingdom. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2022; 86:e0009822. [PMID: 36098649 PMCID: PMC9769731 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00098-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the molecular basis of speciation is a primary goal in evolutionary biology. The formation of the postzygotic reproductive isolation that causes hybrid dysfunction, thereby reducing gene flow between diverging populations, is crucial for speciation. Using various advanced approaches, including chromosome replacement, hybrid introgression and transcriptomics, population genomics, and experimental evolution, scientists have revealed multiple mechanisms involved in postzygotic barriers in the fungal kingdom. These results illuminate both unique and general features of fungal speciation. Our review summarizes experiments on fungi exploring how Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibility, killer meiotic drive, chromosome rearrangements, and antirecombination contribute to postzygotic reproductive isolation. We also discuss possible evolutionary forces underlying different reproductive isolation mechanisms and the potential roles of the evolutionary arms race under the Red Queen hypothesis and epigenetic divergence in speciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jui-Yu Chou
- Department of Biology, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan
| | - Po-Chen Hsu
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Jun-Yi Leu
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
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14
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The Mutagenic Consequences of DNA Methylation within and across Generations. EPIGENOMES 2022; 6:epigenomes6040033. [PMID: 36278679 PMCID: PMC9624357 DOI: 10.3390/epigenomes6040033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Revised: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification with wide-ranging consequences across the life of an organism. This modification can be stable, persisting through development despite changing environmental conditions. However, in other contexts, DNA methylation can also be flexible, underlying organismal phenotypic plasticity. One underappreciated aspect of DNA methylation is that it is a potent mutagen; methylated cytosines mutate at a much faster rate than other genetic motifs. This mutagenic property of DNA methylation has been largely ignored in eco-evolutionary literature, despite its prevalence. Here, we explore how DNA methylation induced by environmental and other factors could promote mutation and lead to evolutionary change at a more rapid rate and in a more directed manner than through stochastic genetic mutations alone. We argue for future research on the evolutionary implications of DNA methylation driven mutations both within the lifetime of organisms, as well as across timescales.
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15
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Bishop IW, Anderson SI, Collins S, Rynearson TA. Thermal trait variation may buffer Southern Ocean phytoplankton from anthropogenic warming. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:5755-5767. [PMID: 35785458 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Despite the potential of standing genetic variation to rescue communities and shape future adaptation to climate change, high levels of uncertainty are associated with intraspecific trait variation in marine phytoplankton. Recent model intercomparisons have pointed to an urgent need to reduce uncertainty in the projected responses of marine ecosystems to climate change, including Southern Ocean (SO) surface waters, which are among the most rapidly warming habitats on Earth. Because SO phytoplankton growth responses to warming sea surface temperature (SST) are poorly constrained, we developed a high-throughput growth assay to simultaneously examine inter- and intra-specific thermal trait variation in a group of 43 taxonomically diverse and biogeochemically important SO phytoplankton called diatoms. We found significant differential growth performance among species across thermal traits, including optimum and maximum tolerated growth temperatures. Within species, coefficients of variation ranged from 3% to 48% among strains for those same key thermal traits. Using SO SST projections for 2100, we predicted biogeographic ranges that differed by up to 97% between the least and most tolerant strains for each species, illustrating the role that strain-specific differences in temperature response can play in shaping predictions of future phytoplankton biogeography. Our findings revealed the presence and scale of thermal trait variation in SO phytoplankton and suggest these communities may already harbour the thermal trait diversity required to withstand projected 21st-century SST change in the SO even under severe climate forcing scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian W Bishop
- Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Stephanie I Anderson
- Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Sinead Collins
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Tatiana A Rynearson
- Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA
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16
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Planidin NP, de Carvalho CF, Feder JL, Gompert Z, Nosil P. Epigenetics and reproductive isolation: a commentary on Westram et al., 2022. J Evol Biol 2022; 35:1188-1194. [PMID: 36063158 PMCID: PMC9541925 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jeffrey L Feder
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
| | | | - Patrik Nosil
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
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17
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De Kort H, Toivainen T, Van Nieuwerburgh F, Andrés J, Hytönen TP, Honnay O. Signatures of polygenic adaptation align with genome-wide methylation patterns in wild strawberry plants. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2022; 235:1501-1514. [PMID: 35575945 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Epigenetic inheritance can drive adaptive evolution independently of DNA sequence variation. However, to what extent epigenetic variation represents an autonomous evolutionary force remains largely elusive. Through gene ontology and comparative analyses of genomic and epigenomic variation of wild strawberry plants raised in distinct drought settings, we characterised genome-wide covariation between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs). Covariation between SNPs and DMCs was independent of genomic proximity, but instead associated with fitness-related processes such as stress responses, genome regulation and reproduction. We expected this functional SNP-DMC covariation to be driven by adaptive evolution canalising SNP and DMC variation, but instead observed significantly lower covariation with DMCs for adaptive rather than for neutral SNPs. Drought-induced DMCs frequently co-varied with tens of SNPs, suggesting high genomic redundancy as a broad potential basis for polygenic adaptation of gene expression. Our findings suggest that stress-responsive DMCs initially co-vary with many SNPs under increased environmental stress, and that natural selection acting upon several of these SNPs subsequently reduces standing covariation with stress-responsive DMCs. Our study supports DNA methylation profiles that represent complex quantitative traits rather than autonomous evolutionary forces. We provide a conceptual framework for polygenic regulation and adaptation shaping genome-wide methylation patterns in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanne De Kort
- Plant Conservation and Population Biology, University of Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31-2435, BE-3001, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tuomas Toivainen
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, Viikki Plant Science Centre, University of Helsinki, Latokartanonkaari 7, 00790, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Javier Andrés
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, Viikki Plant Science Centre, University of Helsinki, Latokartanonkaari 7, 00790, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Timo P Hytönen
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, Viikki Plant Science Centre, University of Helsinki, Latokartanonkaari 7, 00790, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Olivier Honnay
- Plant Conservation and Population Biology, University of Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31-2435, BE-3001, Leuven, Belgium
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18
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Pontarotti G, Mossio M, Pocheville A. The genotype-phenotype distinction: from Mendelian genetics to 21st century biology. Genetica 2022; 150:223-234. [PMID: 35877054 DOI: 10.1007/s10709-022-00159-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The Genotype-Phenotype (G-P) distinction was proposed in the context of Mendelian genetics, in the wake of late nineteenth century studies about heredity. In this paper, we provide a conceptual analysis that highlights that the G-P distinction was grounded on three pillars: observability, transmissibility, and causality. Originally, the genotype is the non-observable and transmissible cause of its observable and non-transmissible effect, the phenotype. We argue that the current developments of biology have called the validity of such pillars into question. First, molecular biology has unveiled the putative material substrate of the genotype (qua DNA), making it an observable object. Second, numerous findings on non-genetic heredity suggest that some phenotypic traits can be directly transmitted. Third, recent organicist approaches to biological phenomena have emphasized the reciprocal causality between parts of a biological system, which notably applies to the relation between genotypes and phenotypes. As a consequence, we submit that the G-P distinction has lost its general validity, although it can still apply to specific situations. This calls for forging new frameworks and concepts to better describe heredity and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaëlle Pontarotti
- Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, CNRS/Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France.
| | - Matteo Mossio
- Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, CNRS/Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France
| | - Arnaud Pocheville
- Université de Toulouse, Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174, CNRS, IRD, UPS, Toulouse, France
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19
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Chandana BS, Mahto RK, Singh RK, Ford R, Vaghefi N, Gupta SK, Yadav HK, Manohar M, Kumar R. Epigenomics as Potential Tools for Enhancing Magnitude of Breeding Approaches for Developing Climate Resilient Chickpea. Front Genet 2022; 13:900253. [PMID: 35937986 PMCID: PMC9355295 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.900253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenomics has become a significant research interest at a time when rapid environmental changes are occurring. Epigenetic mechanisms mainly result from systems like DNA methylation, histone modification, and RNA interference. Epigenetic mechanisms are gaining importance in classical genetics, developmental biology, molecular biology, cancer biology, epidemiology, and evolution. Epigenetic mechanisms play important role in the action and interaction of plant genes during development, and also have an impact on classical plant breeding programs, inclusive of novel variation, single plant heritability, hybrid vigor, plant-environment interactions, stress tolerance, and performance stability. The epigenetics and epigenomics may be significant for crop adaptability and pliability to ambient alterations, directing to the creation of stout climate-resilient elegant crop cultivars. In this review, we have summarized recent progress made in understanding the epigenetic mechanisms in plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses and have also tried to provide the ways for the efficient utilization of epigenomic mechanisms in developing climate-resilient crop cultivars, especially in chickpea, and other legume crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- B. S. Chandana
- Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), New Delhi, India
| | | | | | - Rebecca Ford
- Center for Planetary Health and Food Security, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Niloofar Vaghefi
- School of Agriculture and Food, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | | | | | - Murli Manohar
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
| | - Rajendra Kumar
- Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), New Delhi, India
- *Correspondence: Rajendra Kumar,
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20
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Anastasiadi D, Piferrer F, Wellenreuther M, Benítez Burraco A. Fish as Model Systems to Study Epigenetic Drivers in Human Self-Domestication and Neurodevelopmental Cognitive Disorders. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13060987. [PMID: 35741749 PMCID: PMC9222608 DOI: 10.3390/genes13060987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern humans exhibit phenotypic traits and molecular events shared with other domesticates that are thought to be by-products of selection for reduced aggression. This is the human self-domestication hypothesis. As one of the first types of responses to a novel environment, epigenetic changes may have also facilitated early self-domestication in humans. Here, we argue that fish species, which have been recently domesticated, can provide model systems to study epigenetic drivers in human self-domestication. To test this, we used in silico approaches to compare genes with epigenetic changes in early domesticates of European sea bass with genes exhibiting methylation changes in anatomically modern humans (comparison 1), and neurodevelopmental cognitive disorders considered to exhibit abnormal self-domestication traits, i.e., schizophrenia, Williams syndrome, and autism spectrum disorders (comparison 2). Overlapping genes in comparison 1 were involved in processes like limb morphogenesis and phenotypes like abnormal jaw morphology and hypopigmentation. Overlapping genes in comparison 2 affected paralogue genes involved in processes such as neural crest differentiation and ectoderm differentiation. These findings pave the way for future studies using fish species as models to investigate epigenetic changes as drivers of human self-domestication and as triggers of cognitive disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dafni Anastasiadi
- Seafood Technologies, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Nelson 7010, New Zealand;
- Correspondence:
| | - Francesc Piferrer
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 08003 Barcelona, Spain;
| | - Maren Wellenreuther
- Seafood Technologies, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Nelson 7010, New Zealand;
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
| | - Antonio Benítez Burraco
- Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, 41004 Seville, Spain;
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21
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Martynov A, Lundin K, Korshunova T. Ontogeny, Phylotypic Periods, Paedomorphosis, and Ontogenetic Systematics. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.806414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The key terms linking ontogeny and evolution are briefly reviewed. It is shown that their application and usage in the modern biology are often inconsistent and incorrectly understood even within the “evo-devo” field. For instance, the core modern reformulation that ontogeny not merely recapitulates, but produces phylogeny implies that ontogeny and phylogeny are closely interconnected. However, the vast modern phylogenetic and taxonomic fields largely omit ontogeny as a central concept. Instead, the common “clade-” and “tree-thinking” prevail, despite on the all achievements of the evo-devo. This is because the main conceptual basis of the modern biology is fundamentally ontogeny-free. In another words, in the Haeckel’s pair of “ontogeny and phylogeny,” ontogeny is still just a subsidiary for the evolutionary process (and hence, phylogeny), instead as in reality, its main driving force. The phylotypic periods is another important term of the evo-devo and represent a modern reformulation of Haeckel’s recapitulations and biogenetic law. However, surprisingly, this one of the most important biological evidence, based on the natural ontogenetic grounds, in the phylogenetic field that can be alleged as a “non-evolutionary concept.” All these observations clearly imply that a major revision of the main terms which are associated with the “ontogeny and phylogeny/evolution” field is urgently necessarily. Thus, “ontogenetic” is not just an endless addition to the term “systematics,” but instead a crucial term, without it neither systematics, nor biology have sense. To consistently employ the modern ontogenetic and epigenetic achievements, the concept of ontogenetic systematics is hereby refined. Ontogenetic systematics is not merely a “research program” but a key biological discipline which consistently links the enormous biological diversity with underlying fundamental process of ontogeny at both molecular and morphological levels. The paedomorphosis is another widespread ontogenetic-and-evolutionary process that is significantly underestimated or misinterpreted by the current phylogenetics and taxonomy. The term paedomorphosis is refined, as initially proposed to link ontogeny with evolution, whereas “neoteny” and “progenesis” are originally specific, narrow terms without evolutionary context, and should not be used as synonyms of paedomorphosis. Examples of application of the principles of ontogenetic systematics represented by such disparate animal groups as nudibranch molluscs and ophiuroid echinoderms clearly demonstrate that perseverance of the phylotypic periods is based not only on the classic examples in vertebrates, but it is a universal phenomenon in all organisms, including disparate animal phyla.
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22
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Decoding the sorghum methylome: understanding epigenetic contributions to agronomic traits. Biochem Soc Trans 2022; 50:583-596. [PMID: 35212360 PMCID: PMC9022969 DOI: 10.1042/bst20210908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
DNA methylation is a chromatin modification that plays an essential role in regulating gene expression and genome stability and it is typically associated with gene silencing and heterochromatin. Owing to its heritability, alterations in the patterns of DNA methylation have the potential to provide for epigenetic inheritance of traits. Contemporary epigenomic technologies provide information beyond sequence variation and could supply alternative sources of trait variation for improvement in crops such as sorghum. Yet, compared with other species such as maize and rice, the sorghum DNA methylome is far less well understood. The distribution of CG, CHG, and CHH methylation in the genome is different compared with other species. CG and CHG methylation levels peak around centromeric segments in the sorghum genome and are far more depleted in the gene dense chromosome arms. The genes regulating DNA methylation in sorghum are also yet to be functionally characterised; better understanding of their identity and functional analysis of DNA methylation machinery mutants in diverse genotypes will be important to better characterise the sorghum methylome. Here, we catalogue homologous genes encoding methylation regulatory enzymes in sorghum based on genes in Arabidopsis, maize, and rice. Discovering variation in the methylome may uncover epialleles that provide extra information to explain trait variation and has the potential to be applied in epigenome-wide association studies or genomic prediction. DNA methylation can also improve genome annotations and discover regulatory elements underlying traits. Thus, improving our knowledge of the sorghum methylome can enhance our understanding of the molecular basis of traits and may be useful to improve sorghum performance.
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23
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Anastasiadi D, Venney CJ, Bernatchez L, Wellenreuther M. Epigenetic inheritance and reproductive mode in plants and animals. Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 36:1124-1140. [PMID: 34489118 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Epigenetic inheritance is another piece of the puzzle of nongenetic inheritance, although the prevalence, sources, persistence, and phenotypic consequences of heritable epigenetic marks across taxa remain unclear. We systematically reviewed over 500 studies from the past 5 years to identify trends in the frequency of epigenetic inheritance due to differences in reproductive mode and germline development. Genetic, intrinsic (e.g., disease), and extrinsic (e.g., environmental) factors were identified as sources of epigenetic inheritance, with impacts on phenotype and adaptation depending on environmental predictability. Our review shows that multigenerational persistence of epigenomic patterns is common in both plants and animals, but also highlights many knowledge gaps that remain to be filled. We provide a framework to guide future studies towards understanding the generational persistence and eco-evolutionary significance of epigenomic patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dafni Anastasiadi
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Nelson Research Centre, 293 Akersten St, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
| | - Clare J Venney
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative des Systèmes (IBIS), Département de Biologie, Université Laval, 1030 Avenue de la Médecine, G1V 0A6, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Louis Bernatchez
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative des Systèmes (IBIS), Département de Biologie, Université Laval, 1030 Avenue de la Médecine, G1V 0A6, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Maren Wellenreuther
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Nelson Research Centre, 293 Akersten St, Nelson 7010, New Zealand; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 3A Symonds St, Auckland 1010, New Zealand.
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24
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Lemmen KD, Verhoeven KJF, Declerck SAJ. Experimental evidence of rapid heritable adaptation in the absence of initial standing genetic variation. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kimberley D. Lemmen
- Department of Aquatic Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen The Netherlands
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland
| | - Koen J. F. Verhoeven
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Steven A. J. Declerck
- Department of Aquatic Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen The Netherlands
- Department of Biology Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation KULeuven Leuven Belgium
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25
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Gowri V, Monteiro A. Inheritance of Acquired Traits in Insects and Other Animals and the Epigenetic Mechanisms That Break the Weismann Barrier. J Dev Biol 2021; 9:41. [PMID: 34698204 PMCID: PMC8544363 DOI: 10.3390/jdb9040041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The credibility of the Weismann barrier has come into question. Several studies in various animal systems, from mice to worms, have shown that novel environmental stimuli can generate an altered developmental or behavioral trait that can be transmitted to offspring of the following generation. Recently, insects have become ideal models to study the inheritance of acquired traits. This is because insects can be reared in high numbers at low cost, they have short generation times and produce abundant offspring. Numerous studies have shown that an insect can modify its phenotype in response to a novel stimulus to aid its survival, and also that this modified phenotypic trait can be inherited by its offspring. Epigenetic mechanisms are likely at play but, most studies do not address the mechanisms that underlie the inheritance of acquired traits in insects. Here we first review general epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone acetylation and small noncoding RNAs that have been implicated in the transmission of acquired traits in animals, then we focus on the few insect studies in which these mechanisms have been investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- V. Gowri
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore;
| | - Antónia Monteiro
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore;
- Science Division, Yale-NUS College, Singapore 138609, Singapore
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26
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Sow MD, Le Gac AL, Fichot R, Lanciano S, Delaunay A, Le Jan I, Lesage-Descauses MC, Citerne S, Caius J, Brunaud V, Soubigou-Taconnat L, Cochard H, Segura V, Chaparro C, Grunau C, Daviaud C, Tost J, Brignolas F, Strauss SH, Mirouze M, Maury S. RNAi suppression of DNA methylation affects the drought stress response and genome integrity in transgenic poplar. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2021; 232:80-97. [PMID: 34128549 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Trees are long-lived organisms that continuously adapt to their environments, a process in which epigenetic mechanisms are likely to play a key role. Via downregulation of the chromatin remodeler DECREASED IN DNA METHYLATION 1 (DDM1) in poplar (Populus tremula × Populus alba) RNAi lines, we examined how DNA methylation coordinates genomic and physiological responses to moderate water deficit. We compared the growth and drought response of two RNAi-ddm1 lines to wild-type (WT) trees under well-watered and water deficit/rewatering conditions, and analyzed their methylomes, transcriptomes, mobilomes and phytohormone contents in the shoot apical meristem. The RNAi-ddm1 lines were more tolerant to drought-induced cavitation but did not differ in height or stem diameter growth. About 5000 differentially methylated regions were consistently detected in both RNAi-ddm1 lines, colocalizing with 910 genes and 89 active transposable elements. Under water deficit conditions, 136 differentially expressed genes were found, including many involved in phytohormone pathways; changes in phytohormone concentrations were also detected. Finally, the combination of hypomethylation and drought led to the mobility of two transposable elements. Our findings suggest major roles for DNA methylation in regulation of genes involved in hormone-related stress responses, and the maintenance of genome integrity through repression of transposable elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mamadou D Sow
- LBLGC, INRAE, Université d'Orléans, EA 1207 USC 1328, Orléans, 45067, France
| | - Anne-Laure Le Gac
- LBLGC, INRAE, Université d'Orléans, EA 1207 USC 1328, Orléans, 45067, France
| | - Régis Fichot
- LBLGC, INRAE, Université d'Orléans, EA 1207 USC 1328, Orléans, 45067, France
| | - Sophie Lanciano
- IRD, UMR 232 DIADE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, 34090, France
- Laboratory of Plant Genome and Development, Université de Perpignan, Perpignan, 66860, France
| | - Alain Delaunay
- LBLGC, INRAE, Université d'Orléans, EA 1207 USC 1328, Orléans, 45067, France
| | - Isabelle Le Jan
- LBLGC, INRAE, Université d'Orléans, EA 1207 USC 1328, Orléans, 45067, France
| | | | - Sylvie Citerne
- Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Versailles, 78000, France
| | - Jose Caius
- Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, INRAE, Université Evry, Orsay, 91405, France
| | - Véronique Brunaud
- Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, INRAE, Université Evry, Orsay, 91405, France
| | - Ludivine Soubigou-Taconnat
- Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2), Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, INRAE, Université Evry, Orsay, 91405, France
| | - Hervé Cochard
- Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, PIAF, Clermont-Ferrand, 63000, France
| | - Vincent Segura
- BioForA, INRAE, ONF, UMR 0588, Orléans, 45075, France
- UMR AGAP Institut, Université Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Montpellier SupAgro, UMR 1334, Montpellier, F-34398, France
| | | | - Christoph Grunau
- UMR 5244, IHPE, Université de Perpignan, Perpignan, 66100, France
| | - Christian Daviaud
- Laboratory for Epigenetics and Environment Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine, CEA- Institut de Biologie Francois Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France
| | - Jörg Tost
- Laboratory for Epigenetics and Environment Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine, CEA- Institut de Biologie Francois Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France
| | - Franck Brignolas
- LBLGC, INRAE, Université d'Orléans, EA 1207 USC 1328, Orléans, 45067, France
| | - Steven H Strauss
- Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331-5752, USA
| | - Marie Mirouze
- IRD, UMR 232 DIADE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, 34090, France
- Laboratory of Plant Genome and Development, Université de Perpignan, Perpignan, 66860, France
| | - Stéphane Maury
- LBLGC, INRAE, Université d'Orléans, EA 1207 USC 1328, Orléans, 45067, France
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Leitwein M, Laporte M, Le Luyer J, Mohns K, Normandeau E, Withler R, Bernatchez L. Epigenomic modifications induced by hatchery rearing persist in germ line cells of adult salmon after their oceanic migration. Evol Appl 2021; 14:2402-2413. [PMID: 34745334 PMCID: PMC8549618 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Human activities induce direct or indirect selection pressure on natural population and may ultimately affect population's integrity. While numerous conservation programs aimed to minimize human-induced genomic variation, human-induced environmental variation may generate epigenomic variation potentially affecting fitness through phenotypic modifications. Major questions remain pertaining to how much epigenomic variation arises from environmental heterogeneity, whether this variation can persist throughout life, and whether it can be transmitted across generations. We performed whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) on the sperm of genetically indistinguishable hatchery and wild-born migrating adults of Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) from two geographically distant rivers at different epigenome scales. Our results showed that coupling WGBS with fine-scale analyses (local and chromosomal) allows the detection of parallel early-life hatchery-induced epimarks that differentiate wild from hatchery-reared salmon. Four chromosomes and 183 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) displayed a significant signal of methylation differentiation between hatchery and wild-born Coho salmon. Moreover, those early-life epimarks persisted in germ line cells despite about 1.5 year spent in the ocean following release from hatchery, opening the possibility for transgenerational inheritance. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that epigenomic modifications environmentally induced during early-life development persist in germ cells of adults until reproduction, which could potentially impact their fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maeva Leitwein
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS)Université LavalQuébecQCCanada
| | - Martin Laporte
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS)Université LavalQuébecQCCanada
| | - Jeremy Le Luyer
- IfremerIRDInstitut Louis‐MalardéUniv Polynésie Française, EIOTahitiFrance
| | - Kayla Mohns
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans CanadaPacific Biological StationNanaimoBCCanada
| | - Eric Normandeau
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS)Université LavalQuébecQCCanada
| | - Ruth Withler
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans CanadaPacific Biological StationNanaimoBCCanada
| | - Louis Bernatchez
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS)Université LavalQuébecQCCanada
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28
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Markich SJ. Comparative embryo/larval sensitivity of Australian marine bivalves to ten metals: A disjunct between physiology and phylogeny. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 789:147988. [PMID: 34323817 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Metal contamination within the urbanized coastal zon is one threat linked to a decline in the abundance, distribution and/or species diversity of wild marine bivalve populations. This study determined the 48-h embryo/larval sensitivity (no-effect concentration (NEC) and median-effect concentration (EC50)) of ten marine bivalve species (nine endemic to Australia) to aluminium (Al), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn), key metal contaminants impacting urbanized coastal zones in south-eastern Australia, in natural seawater (20-22 °C, 30‰ salinity, pH 7.8-7.9, 1.2 mg/L dissolved organic carbon). For all metals, except Fe, the order of sensitivity was oysters > mussels ≥ scallops ≥ cockles ≥ clams, where the economically-important oysters, Magallana gigas and Saccostrea glomerata, were 2.6 (Al) to 4.2 (Cd) times more sensitive than the least sensitive clam species. For all bivalve species, the order of metal sensitivity was Cu > Pb > Zn = Ni > Co > Cd > Al > Cr(VI) > Mn ≥ Fe(III), where Cu was eight times more toxic than Zn or Ni, 28 times more toxic than Cd, 220 times more toxic than Cr(VI) and 570 times more toxic than Fe(III). Iron, unlike the other nine soluble metals, occurred as particulate Fe(III) oxyhydroxide, where EC50 values decreased with increasing exposure time as the larval (D-veliger) stage. There was no significant (p > 0.05) effect of embryo/larval mass, or surface area/volume, on metal sensitivity. Further, there was no significant (p > 0.05) relationship between metal sensitivity and phylogeny (genetic distance). Divalent metal sensitivity was positively related (r2 = 0.87) to cell surface metal-binding affinity. The current Australian marine water quality guideline for Ni is not protective of the ten bivalve species (NECs were 2-6-fold below the guideline), while the guideline for Zn is not protective of oysters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott J Markich
- Aquatic Solutions International, North Narrabeen Beach, NSW 2101, Australia; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia.
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29
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Nieberding CM, Marcantonio M, Voda R, Enriquez T, Visser B. The Evolutionary Relevance of Social Learning and Transmission in Non-Social Arthropods with a Focus on Oviposition-Related Behaviors. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12101466. [PMID: 34680861 PMCID: PMC8536077 DOI: 10.3390/genes12101466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2021] [Revised: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on social learning has centered around vertebrates, but evidence is accumulating that small-brained, non-social arthropods also learn from others. Social learning can lead to social inheritance when socially acquired behaviors are transmitted to subsequent generations. Using oviposition site selection, a critical behavior for most arthropods, as an example, we first highlight the complementarities between social and classical genetic inheritance. We then discuss the relevance of studying social learning and transmission in non-social arthropods and document known cases in the literature, including examples of social learning from con- and hetero-specifics. We further highlight under which conditions social learning can be adaptive or not. We conclude that non-social arthropods and the study of oviposition behavior offer unparalleled opportunities to unravel the importance of social learning and inheritance for animal evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline M. Nieberding
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Group, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (M.M.); (R.V.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Matteo Marcantonio
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Group, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (M.M.); (R.V.)
| | - Raluca Voda
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Group, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (M.M.); (R.V.)
| | - Thomas Enriquez
- Evolution and Ecophysiology Group, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (T.E.); (B.V.)
| | - Bertanne Visser
- Evolution and Ecophysiology Group, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (T.E.); (B.V.)
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30
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Bruneaux M, Kronholm I, Ashrafi R, Ketola T. Roles of adenine methylation and genetic mutations in adaptation to different temperatures in Serratia marcescens. Epigenetics 2021; 17:861-881. [PMID: 34519613 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2021.1966215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic modifications can contribute to adaptation, but the relative contributions of genetic and epigenetic variation are unknown. Previous studies on the role of epigenetic changes in adaptation in eukaryotes have nearly exclusively focused on cytosine methylation (m5C), while prokaryotes exhibit a richer system of methyltransferases targetting adenines (m6A) or cytosines (m4C, m5C). DNA methylation in prokaryotes has many roles, but its potential role in adaptation still needs further investigation. We collected phenotypic, genetic, and epigenetic data using single molecule real-time sequencing of clones of the bacterium Serratia marcescens that had undergone experimental evolution in contrasting temperatures to investigate the relationship between environment and genetic, epigenetic, and phenotypic changes. The genomic distribution of GATC motifs, which were the main target for m6A methylation, and of variable m6A epiloci pointed to a potential link between m6A methylation and regulation of gene expression in S. marcescens. Evolved strains, while genetically homogeneous, exhibited many polymorphic m6A epiloci. There was no strong support for a genetic control of methylation changes in our experiment, and no clear evidence of parallel environmentally induced or environmentally selected methylation changes at specific epiloci was found. Both genetic and epigenetic variants were associated with some phenotypic traits. Overall, our results suggest that both genetic and adenine methylation changes have the potential to contribute to phenotypic adaptation in S. marcescens, but that any environmentally induced epigenetic change occurring in our experiment would probably have been quite labile.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthieu Bruneaux
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Ilkka Kronholm
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Roghaieh Ashrafi
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tarmo Ketola
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
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31
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Huber M, Gablenz S, Höfer M. Transgenerational non-genetic inheritance has fitness costs and benefits under recurring stress in the clonal duckweed Spirodela polyrhiza. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211269. [PMID: 34284629 PMCID: PMC8292752 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Although non-genetic inheritance is thought to play an important role in plant ecology and evolution, evidence for adaptive transgenerational plasticity is scarce. Here, we investigated the consequences of copper excess on offspring defences and fitness under recurring stress in the duckweed Spirodela polyrhiza across multiple asexual generations. Growing large monoclonal populations (greater than 10 000 individuals) for 30 generations under copper excess had negative fitness effects after short and no fitness effect after prolonged growth under recurring stress. These time-dependent growth rates were likely influenced by environment-induced transgenerational responses, as propagating plants as single descendants for 2 to 10 generations under copper excess had positive, negative or neutral effects on offspring fitness depending on the interval between initial and recurring stress (5 to 15 generations). Fitness benefits under recurring stress were independent of flavonoid accumulations, which in turn were associated with altered plant copper concentrations. Copper excess modified offspring fitness under recurring stress in a genotype-specific manner, and increasing the interval between initial and recurring stress reversed these genotype-specific fitness effects. Taken together, these data demonstrate time- and genotype-dependent adaptive and non-adaptive transgenerational responses under recurring stress, which suggests that non-genetic inheritance alters the evolutionary trajectory of clonal plant lineages in fluctuating environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meret Huber
- Department of Biochemistry, Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
- Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Saskia Gablenz
- Department of Biochemistry, Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Martin Höfer
- Department of Biochemistry, Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
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32
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Piferrer F. Epigenetic mechanisms in sex determination and in the evolutionary transitions between sexual systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200110. [PMID: 34247505 PMCID: PMC8273503 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The hypothesis that epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression regulation have two main roles in vertebrate sex is presented. First, and within a given generation, by contributing to the acquisition and maintenance of (i) the male or female function once during the lifetime in individuals of gonochoristic species; and (ii) the male and female function in the same individual, either at the same time in simultaneous hermaphrodites, or first as one sex and then as the other in sequential hermaphrodites. Second, if environmental conditions change, epigenetic mechanisms may have also a role across generations, by providing the necessary phenotypic plasticity to facilitate the transition: (i) from one sexual system to another, or (ii) from one sex-determining mechanism to another. Furthermore, if the environmental change lasts enough time, epimutations could facilitate assimilation into genetic changes that stabilize the new sexual system or sex-determining mechanism. Examples supporting these assertions are presented, caveats or difficulties and knowledge gaps identified, and possible ways to test this hypothesis suggested. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Challenging the paradigm in sex chromosome evolution: empirical and theoretical insights with a focus on vertebrates (Part I)’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesc Piferrer
- Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Passeig Marítim, 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
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33
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Walworth NG, Lee MD, Dolzhenko E, Fu FX, Smith AD, Webb EA, Hutchins DA. Long-Term m5C Methylome Dynamics Parallel Phenotypic Adaptation in the Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:927-939. [PMID: 33022053 PMCID: PMC7947765 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
A major challenge in modern biology is understanding how the effects of short-term biological responses influence long-term evolutionary adaptation, defined as a genetically determined increase in fitness to novel environments. This is particularly important in globally important microbes experiencing rapid global change, due to their influence on food webs, biogeochemical cycles, and climate. Epigenetic modifications like methylation have been demonstrated to influence short-term plastic responses, which ultimately impact long-term adaptive responses to environmental change. However, there remains a paucity of empirical research examining long-term methylation dynamics during environmental adaptation in nonmodel, ecologically important microbes. Here, we show the first empirical evidence in a marine prokaryote for long-term m5C methylome modifications correlated with phenotypic adaptation to CO2, using a 7-year evolution experiment (1,000+ generations) with the biogeochemically important marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium. We identify m5C methylated sites that rapidly changed in response to high (750 µatm) CO2 exposure and were maintained for at least 4.5 years of CO2 selection. After 7 years of CO2 selection, however, m5C methylation levels that initially responded to high-CO2 returned to ancestral, ambient CO2 levels. Concurrently, high-CO2 adapted growth and N2 fixation rates remained significantly higher than those of ambient CO2 adapted cell lines irrespective of CO2 concentration, a trend consistent with genetic assimilation theory. These data demonstrate the maintenance of CO2-responsive m5C methylation for 4.5 years alongside phenotypic adaptation before returning to ancestral methylation levels. These observations in a globally distributed marine prokaryote provide critical evolutionary insights into biogeochemically important traits under global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan G Walworth
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael D Lee
- Exobiology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA, USA.,Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA, 98154, USA
| | - Egor Dolzhenko
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Fei-Xue Fu
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Andrew D Smith
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Eric A Webb
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - David A Hutchins
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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34
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Exploration of Epigenetics for Improvement of Drought and Other Stress Resistance in Crops: A Review. PLANTS 2021; 10:plants10061226. [PMID: 34208642 PMCID: PMC8235456 DOI: 10.3390/plants10061226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Crop plants often have challenges of biotic and abiotic stresses, and they adapt sophisticated ways to acclimate and cope with these through the expression of specific genes. Changes in chromatin, histone, and DNA mostly serve the purpose of combating challenges and ensuring the survival of plants in stressful environments. Epigenetic changes, due to environmental stress, enable plants to remember a past stress event in order to deal with such challenges in the future. This heritable memory, called "plant stress memory", enables plants to respond against stresses in a better and efficient way, not only for the current plant in prevailing situations but also for future generations. Development of stress resistance in plants for increasing the yield potential and stability has always been a traditional objective of breeders for crop improvement through integrated breeding approaches. The application of epigenetics for improvements in complex traits in tetraploid and some other field crops has been unclear. An improved understanding of epigenetics and stress memory applications will contribute to the development of strategies to incorporate them into breeding for complex agronomic traits. The insight in the application of novel plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) has opened a new plethora of options among plant scientists to develop germplasms for stress tolerance. This review summarizes and discusses plant stress memory at the intergenerational and transgenerational levels, mechanisms involved in stress memory, exploitation of induced and natural epigenetic changes, and genome editing technologies with their future possible applications, in the breeding of crops for abiotic stress tolerance to increase the yield for zero hunger goals achievement on a sustainable basis in the changing climatic era.
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35
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Edelaar P, Bonduriansky R, Charmantier A, Danchin E, Pujol B. Response to Kalchhauser et al.: Inherited Gene Regulation Is not Enough to Understand Nongenetic Inheritance. Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 36:475-476. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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36
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Piferrer F, Anastasiadi D. Do the Offspring of Sex Reversals Have Higher Sensitivity to Environmental Perturbations? Sex Dev 2021; 15:134-147. [PMID: 33910195 DOI: 10.1159/000515192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Sex determination systems in vertebrates vary along a continuum from genetic (GSD) to environmental sex determination (ESD). Individuals that show a sexual phenotype opposite to their genotypic sex are called sex reversals. Aside from genetic elements, temperature, sex steroids, and exogenous chemicals are common factors triggering sex reversal, a phenomenon that may occur even in strict GSD species. In this paper, we review the literature on instances of sex reversal in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. We focus on the offspring of sex-reversed parents in the instances that they can be produced, and show that in all cases studied the offspring of these sex-reversed parents exhibit a higher sensitivity to environmental perturbations than the offspring of non-sex-reversed parents. We suggest that the inheritance of this sensitivity, aside from possible genetic factors, is likely to be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, since these mechanisms are responsive to environmental cues, and epigenetic modifications can be transmitted to the subsequent generations. Species with a chromosomal GSD system with environmental sensitivity and availability of genetic sex markers should be employed to further test whether offspring of sex-reversed parents have greater sensitivity to environmental perturbations. Future studies could also benefit from detailed whole-genome data in order to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Finally, we discuss the consequences of such higher sensitivity in the context of global climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesc Piferrer
- Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Dafni Anastasiadi
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Nelson, New Zealand
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37
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Yi SV, Goodisman MAD. The impact of epigenetic information on genome evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200114. [PMID: 33866804 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic information affects gene function by interacting with chromatin, while not changing the DNA sequence itself. However, it has become apparent that the interactions between epigenetic information and chromatin can, in fact, indirectly lead to DNA mutations and ultimately influence genome evolution. This review evaluates the ways in which epigenetic information affects genome sequence and evolution. We discuss how DNA methylation has strong and pervasive effects on DNA sequence evolution in eukaryotic organisms. We also review how the physical interactions arising from the connections between histone proteins and DNA affect DNA mutation and repair. We then discuss how a variety of epigenetic mechanisms exert substantial effects on genome evolution by suppressing the movement of transposable elements. Finally, we examine how genome expansion through gene duplication is also partially controlled by epigenetic information. Overall, we conclude that epigenetic information has widespread indirect effects on DNA sequences in eukaryotes and represents a potent cause and constraint of genome evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'How does epigenetics influence the course of evolution?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Soojin V Yi
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Michael A D Goodisman
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
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38
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Mouginot P, Luviano Aparicio N, Gourcilleau D, Latutrie M, Marin S, Hemptinne JL, Grunau C, Pujol B. Phenotypic Response to Light Versus Shade Associated with DNA Methylation Changes in Snapdragon Plants ( Antirrhinum majus). Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:227. [PMID: 33557416 PMCID: PMC7914928 DOI: 10.3390/genes12020227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Revised: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The phenotypic plasticity of plants in response to change in their light environment, and in particularly, to shade is a schoolbook example of ecologically relevant phenotypic plasticity with evolutionary adaptive implications. Epigenetic variation is known to potentially underlie plant phenotypic plasticity. Yet, little is known about its role in ecologically and evolutionary relevant mechanisms shaping the diversity of plant populations in nature. Here we used a reference-free reduced representation bisulfite sequencing method for non-model organisms (epiGBS) to investigate changes in DNA methylation patterns across the genome in snapdragon plants (Antirrhinum majus L.). We exposed plants to sunlight versus artificially induced shade in four highly inbred lines to exclude genetic confounding effects. Our results showed that phenotypic plasticity in response to light versus shade shaped vegetative traits. They also showed that DNA methylation patterns were modified under light versus shade, with a trend towards global effects over the genome but with large effects found on a restricted portion. We also detected the existence of a correlation between phenotypic and epigenetic variation that neither supported nor rejected its potential role in plasticity. While our findings imply epigenetic changes in response to light versus shade environments in snapdragon plants, whether these changes are directly involved in the phenotypic plastic response of plants remains to be investigated. Our approach contributed to this new finding but illustrates the limits in terms of sample size and statistical power of population epigenetic approaches in non-model organisms. Pushing this boundary will be necessary before the relationship between environmentally induced epigenetic changes and phenotypic plasticity is clarified for ecologically relevant mechanisms with evolutionary implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierick Mouginot
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de Perpignan, 52 Avenue Paul Alduy, CEDEX 9, 66860 Perpignan, France; (P.M.); (M.L.); (S.M.)
| | - Nelia Luviano Aparicio
- Université Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, UPVD, Interactions Hôtes Pathogènes Environnements (IHPE), 66860 Perpignan, France; (N.L.A.); (C.G.)
| | - Delphine Gourcilleau
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB, UMR 5174), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS, 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1, CEDEX 9, 31062 Toulouse, France; (D.G.); (J.-L.H.)
| | - Mathieu Latutrie
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de Perpignan, 52 Avenue Paul Alduy, CEDEX 9, 66860 Perpignan, France; (P.M.); (M.L.); (S.M.)
| | - Sara Marin
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de Perpignan, 52 Avenue Paul Alduy, CEDEX 9, 66860 Perpignan, France; (P.M.); (M.L.); (S.M.)
| | - Jean-Louis Hemptinne
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB, UMR 5174), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS, 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1, CEDEX 9, 31062 Toulouse, France; (D.G.); (J.-L.H.)
| | - Christoph Grunau
- Université Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, UPVD, Interactions Hôtes Pathogènes Environnements (IHPE), 66860 Perpignan, France; (N.L.A.); (C.G.)
| | - Benoit Pujol
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de Perpignan, 52 Avenue Paul Alduy, CEDEX 9, 66860 Perpignan, France; (P.M.); (M.L.); (S.M.)
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39
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Fargeot L, Loot G, Prunier JG, Rey O, Veyssière C, Blanchet S. Patterns of Epigenetic Diversity in Two Sympatric Fish Species: Genetic vs. Environmental Determinants. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:107. [PMID: 33467145 PMCID: PMC7830833 DOI: 10.3390/genes12010107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic components are hypothesized to be sensitive to the environment, which should permit species to adapt to environmental changes. In wild populations, epigenetic variation should therefore be mainly driven by environmental variation. Here, we tested whether epigenetic variation (DNA methylation) observed in wild populations is related to their genetic background, and/or to the local environment. Focusing on two sympatric freshwater fish species (Gobio occitaniae and Phoxinus phoxinus), we tested the relationships between epigenetic differentiation, genetic differentiation (using microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers), and environmental distances between sites. We identify positive relationships between pairwise genetic and epigenetic distances in both species. Moreover, epigenetic marks better discriminated populations than genetic markers, especially in G. occitaniae. In G. occitaniae, both pairwise epigenetic and genetic distances were significantly associated to environmental distances between sites. Nonetheless, when controlling for genetic differentiation, the link between epigenetic differentiation and environmental distances was not significant anymore, indicating a noncausal relationship. Our results suggest that fish epigenetic variation is mainly genetically determined and that the environment weakly contributed to epigenetic variation. We advocate the need to control for the genetic background of populations when inferring causal links between epigenetic variation and environmental heterogeneity in wild populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Fargeot
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UMR 5321, F-09200 Moulis, France;
| | - Géraldine Loot
- CNRS, UPS, École Nationale de Formation Agronomique (ENFA), UMR 5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse CEDEX 4, France; (G.L.); (C.V.)
- Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), F-75231 Paris CEDEX 05, France
| | - Jérôme G. Prunier
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UMR 5321, F-09200 Moulis, France;
| | - Olivier Rey
- CNRS, Interaction Hôtes-Parasites-Environnements (IHPE), UMR 5244, F-66860 Perpignan, France;
| | - Charlotte Veyssière
- CNRS, UPS, École Nationale de Formation Agronomique (ENFA), UMR 5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse CEDEX 4, France; (G.L.); (C.V.)
| | - Simon Blanchet
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Station d’Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UMR 5321, F-09200 Moulis, France;
- CNRS, UPS, École Nationale de Formation Agronomique (ENFA), UMR 5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse CEDEX 4, France; (G.L.); (C.V.)
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De Kort H, Panis B, Deforce D, Van Nieuwerburgh F, Honnay O. Ecological divergence of wild strawberry DNA methylation patterns at distinct spatial scales. Mol Ecol 2020; 29:4871-4881. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.15689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hanne De Kort
- Plant Conservation and Population Biology University of Leuven Leuven Belgium
| | - Bart Panis
- Bioversity InternationalK.U. Leuven Leuven Belgium
| | - Dieter Deforce
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Ghent University Ghent Belgium
| | | | - Ollivier Honnay
- Plant Conservation and Population Biology University of Leuven Leuven Belgium
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Adrian-Kalchhauser I, Sultan SE, Shama LNS, Spence-Jones H, Tiso S, Keller Valsecchi CI, Weissing FJ. Understanding 'Non-genetic' Inheritance: Insights from Molecular-Evolutionary Crosstalk. Trends Ecol Evol 2020; 35:1078-1089. [PMID: 33036806 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2020] [Revised: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the evolutionary and ecological roles of 'non-genetic' inheritance (NGI) is daunting due to the complexity and diversity of epigenetic mechanisms. We draw on insights from molecular and evolutionary biology perspectives to identify three general features of 'non-genetic' inheritance systems: (i) they are functionally interdependent with, rather than separate from, DNA sequence; (ii) precise mechanisms vary phylogenetically and operationally; and (iii) epigenetic elements are probabilistic, interactive regulatory factors and not deterministic 'epialleles' with defined genomic locations and effects. We discuss each of these features and offer recommendations for future empirical and theoretical research that implements a unifying inherited gene regulation (IGR) approach to studies of 'non-genetic' inheritance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Adrian-Kalchhauser
- Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health, Department for Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 122, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Sonia E Sultan
- Biology Department, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459, USA
| | - Lisa N S Shama
- Coastal Ecology Section, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Wadden Sea Station Sylt, Hafenstrasse 43, 25992 List, Germany
| | - Helen Spence-Jones
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Stefano Tiso
- Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Ackermannweg 4, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Franz J Weissing
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747, AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Biwer C, Kawam B, Chapelle V, Silvestre F. The Role of Stochasticity in the Origin of Epigenetic Variation in Animal Populations. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 60:1544-1557. [PMID: 32470118 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation modulate gene expression in a complex fashion are consequently recognized as among the most important contributors to phenotypic variation in natural populations of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Interactions between genetics and epigenetics are multifaceted and epigenetic variation stands at the crossroad between genetic and environmental variance, which make these mechanisms prominent in the processes of adaptive evolution. DNA methylation patterns depend on the genotype and can be reshaped by environmental conditions, while transgenerational epigenetic inheritance has been reported in various species. On the other hand, DNA methylation can influence the genetic mutation rate and directly affect the evolutionary potential of a population. The origin of epigenetic variance can be attributed to genetic, environmental, or stochastic factors. Generally less investigated than the first two components, variation lacking any predictable order is nevertheless present in natural populations and stochastic epigenetic variation, also referred to spontaneous epimutations, can sustain phenotypic diversity. Here, potential sources of such stochastic epigenetic variability in animals are explored, with a focus on DNA methylation. To this day, quantifying the importance of stochasticity in epigenetic variability remains a challenge. However, comparisons between the mutation and the epimutation rates showed a high level of the latter, suggesting a significant role of spontaneous epimutations in adaptation. The implications of stochastic epigenetic variability are multifold: by affecting development and subsequently phenotype, random changes in epigenetic marks may provide additional phenotypic diversity, which can help natural populations when facing fluctuating environments. In isogenic lineages and asexually reproducing organisms, poor or absent genetic diversity can hence be tolerated. Further implication of stochastic epigenetic variability in adaptation is found in bottlenecked invasive species populations and populations using a bet-hedging strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - F Silvestre
- Institute of Earth, Life and Environment (ILEE), University of Namur, 61 rue de Bruxelles, Namur, 5000, Belgium
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Naciri Y, Linder HP. The genetics of evolutionary radiations. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 95:1055-1072. [PMID: 32233014 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2018] [Revised: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
With the realization that much of the biological diversity on Earth has been generated by discrete evolutionary radiations, there has been a rapid increase in research into the biotic (key innovations) and abiotic (key environments) circumstances in which such radiations took place. Here we focus on the potential importance of population genetic structure and trait genetic architecture in explaining radiations. We propose a verbal model describing the stages of an evolutionary radiation: first invading a suitable adaptive zone and expanding both spatially and ecologically through this zone; secondly, diverging genetically into numerous distinct populations; and, finally, speciating. There are numerous examples of the first stage; the difficulty, however, is explaining how genetic diversification can take place from the establishment of a, presumably, genetically depauperate population in a new adaptive zone. We explore the potential roles of epigenetics and transposable elements (TEs), of neutral process such as genetic drift in combination with trait genetic architecture, of gene flow limitation through isolation by distance (IBD), isolation by ecology and isolation by colonization, the possible role of intra-specific competition, and that of admixture and hybridization in increasing the genetic diversity of the founding populations. We show that many of the predictions of this model are corroborated. Most radiations occur in complex adaptive zones, which facilitate the establishment of many small populations exposed to genetic drift and divergent selection. We also show that many radiations (especially those resulting from long-distance dispersal) were established by polyploid lineages, and that many radiating lineages have small genome sizes. However, there are several other predictions which are not (yet) possible to test: that epigenetics has played a role in radiations, that radiations occur more frequently in clades with small gene flow distances, or that the ancestors of radiations had large fundamental niches. At least some of these may be testable in the future as more genome and epigenome data become available. The implication of this model is that many radiations may be hard polytomies because the genetic divergence leading to speciation happens within a very short time, and that the divergence history may be further obscured by hybridization. Furthermore, it suggests that only lineages with the appropriate genetic architecture will be able to radiate, and that such a radiation will happen in a meta-population environment. Understanding the genetic architecture of a lineage may be an essential part of accounting for why some lineages radiate, and some do not.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yamama Naciri
- Plant Systematics and Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Botany and Plant biology of the University of Geneva, 1 Chemin de l'Impératrice, CH-1292, Chambésy, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - H Peter Linder
- Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008, Zurich, Switzerland
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Herrel
- Département Adaptations du Vivant UMR 7179 CNRS/MNHN Paris Cedex 5 France
| | - Dominique Joly
- Laboratoire Evolution, Génomes, Comportement, Ecologie UMR9191 CNRS/IRD/Université Paris-Saclay Gif-sur-Yvette France
| | - Etienne Danchin
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB) UMR5174, CNRSUniversité Fédérale de ToulouseIRD Toulouse Cedex 9 France
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Anastasiadi D, Piferrer F. Epimutations in Developmental Genes Underlie the Onset of Domestication in Farmed European Sea Bass. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 36:2252-2264. [PMID: 31289822 PMCID: PMC6759067 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Domestication of wild animals induces a set of phenotypic characteristics collectively known as the domestication syndrome. However, how this syndrome emerges is still not clear. Recently, the neural crest cell deficit hypothesis proposed that it is generated by a mildly disrupted neural crest cell developmental program, but clear support is lacking due to the difficulties of distinguishing pure domestication effects from preexisting genetic differences between farmed and wild mammals and birds. Here, we use a farmed fish as model to investigate the role of persistent changes in DNA methylation (epimutations) in the process of domestication. We show that early domesticates of sea bass, with no genetic differences with wild counterparts, contain epimutations in tissues with different embryonic origins. About one fifth of epimutations that persist into adulthood are established by the time of gastrulation and affect genes involved in developmental processes that are expressed in embryonic structures, including the neural crest. Some of these genes are differentially expressed in sea bass with lower jaw malformations, a key feature of domestication syndrome. Interestingly, these epimutations significantly overlap with cytosine-to-thymine polymorphisms after 25 years of selective breeding. Furthermore, epimutated genes coincide with genes under positive selection in other domesticates. We argue that the initial stages of domestication include dynamic alterations in DNA methylation of developmental genes that affect the neural crest. Our results indicate a role for epimutations during the beginning of domestication that could be fixed as genetic variants and suggest a conserved molecular process to explain Darwin’s domestication syndrome across vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dafni Anastasiadi
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain.,The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research, Nelson, New Zealand
| | - Francesc Piferrer
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
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46
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Hamelin RC, Roe AD. Genomic biosurveillance of forest invasive alien enemies: A story written in code. Evol Appl 2020; 13:95-115. [PMID: 31892946 PMCID: PMC6935587 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2019] [Revised: 06/30/2019] [Accepted: 07/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The world's forests face unprecedented threats from invasive insects and pathogens that can cause large irreversible damage to the ecosystems. This threatens the world's capacity to provide long-term fiber supply and ecosystem services that range from carbon storage, nutrient cycling, and water and air purification, to soil preservation and maintenance of wildlife habitat. Reducing the threat of forest invasive alien species requires vigilant biosurveillance, the process of gathering, integrating, interpreting, and communicating essential information about pest and pathogen threats to achieve early detection and warning and to enable better decision-making. This process is challenging due to the diversity of invasive pests and pathogens that need to be identified, the diverse pathways of introduction, and the difficulty in assessing the risk of establishment. Genomics can provide powerful new solutions to biosurveillance. The process of invasion is a story written in four chapters: transport, introduction, establishment, and spread. The series of processes that lead to a successful invasion can leave behind a DNA signature that tells the story of an invasion. This signature can help us understand the dynamic, multistep process of invasion and inform management of current and future introductions. This review describes current and future application of genomic tools and pipelines that will provide accurate identification of pests and pathogens, assign outbreak or survey samples to putative sources to identify pathways of spread, and assess risk based on traits that impact the outbreak outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard C. Hamelin
- Department of Forest and Conservation SciencesThe University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS)Université LavalQuébecQCCanada
- Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt, Faculté de Foresterie et GéographieUniversité LavalQuébecQCCanada
| | - Amanda D. Roe
- Great Lakes Forestry CenterNatural Resources CanadaSault Ste. MarieONCanada
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Salles OC, Almany GR, Berumen ML, Jones GP, Saenz‐Agudelo P, Srinivasan M, Thorrold SR, Pujol B, Planes S. Strong habitat and weak genetic effects shape the lifetime reproductive success in a wild clownfish population. Ecol Lett 2019; 23:265-273. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Revised: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Océane C. Salles
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE‐UPVD‐CNRS USR 3278 CRIOBE Université de Perpignan 52 Avenue Paul Alduy 66860 Perpignan Cedex France
- Laboratoire d’Excellence ‘CORAIL’ 58 avenue Paul Alduy F‐66360 Perpignan France
| | - Glenn R. Almany
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE‐UPVD‐CNRS USR 3278 CRIOBE Université de Perpignan 52 Avenue Paul Alduy 66860 Perpignan Cedex France
- Laboratoire d’Excellence ‘CORAIL’ 58 avenue Paul Alduy F‐66360 Perpignan France
| | - Michael L. Berumen
- Red Sea Research Center Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal 23955 Saudi Arabia
| | - Geoffrey P. Jones
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College of Science and Engineering James Cook University Townsville Qld 4811 Australia
| | - Pablo Saenz‐Agudelo
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas Universidad Austral de Chile 5090000 Valvidia Chile
| | - Maya Srinivasan
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College of Science and Engineering James Cook University Townsville Qld 4811 Australia
| | - Simon R. Thorrold
- Biology Department Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA 02543 USA
| | - Benoit Pujol
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE‐UPVD‐CNRS USR 3278 CRIOBE Université de Perpignan 52 Avenue Paul Alduy 66860 Perpignan Cedex France
- Laboratoire d’Excellence ‘CORAIL’ 58 avenue Paul Alduy F‐66360 Perpignan France
| | - Serge Planes
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE‐UPVD‐CNRS USR 3278 CRIOBE Université de Perpignan 52 Avenue Paul Alduy 66860 Perpignan Cedex France
- Laboratoire d’Excellence ‘CORAIL’ 58 avenue Paul Alduy F‐66360 Perpignan France
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Silva LBAR, Pinheiro-Castro N, Novaes GM, Pascoal GDFL, Ong TP. Bioactive food compounds, epigenetics and chronic disease prevention: Focus on early-life interventions with polyphenols. Food Res Int 2019; 125:108646. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Revised: 08/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Richard G, Le Trionnaire G, Danchin E, Sentis A. Epigenetics and insect polyphenism: mechanisms and climate change impacts. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2019; 35:138-145. [PMID: 31557627 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 06/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity is a ubiquitous process found in all living organisms. Polyphenism is an extreme case of phenotypic plasticity which shares a common scheme in insects such as honeybees, locusts or aphids: an initial perception of environmental stimuli, a neuroendocrine transmission of these signals to the target tissues, the activation of epigenetic mechanisms allowing the setup of alternative transcriptional programs responsible for the establishment of discrete phenotypes. Climate change can modulate the environmental stimuli triggering polyphenisms, and/or some epigenetics marks, thus modifying on the short and long terms the discrete phenotype proportions within populations. This might result in critical ecosystem changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gautier Richard
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Stübeweg 51, 79108 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany; IGEPP, INRA, Agrocampus Ouest, Univ Rennes, 35600 Le Rheu, France
| | | | - Etienne Danchin
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, IRD. 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Arnaud Sentis
- IRSTEA, Aix Marseille Univ., UMR RECOVER, 3275 route Cézanne, 13182 Aix-en-Provence, France
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50
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Latutrie M, Gourcilleau D, Pujol B. Epigenetic variation for agronomic improvement: an opportunity for vegetatively propagated crops. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2019; 106:1281-1284. [PMID: 31505022 PMCID: PMC6856848 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Latutrie
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE‐UPVD‐CNRSUSR 3278 CRIOBEUniversité de Perpignan52 Avenue Paul Alduy66860Perpignan CedexFrance
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB, UMR 5174)Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi‐Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS.118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R131062Toulouse cedex 9France
| | - Delphine Gourcilleau
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB, UMR 5174)Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi‐Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS.118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R131062Toulouse cedex 9France
| | - Benoit Pujol
- PSL Université Paris: EPHE‐UPVD‐CNRSUSR 3278 CRIOBEUniversité de Perpignan52 Avenue Paul Alduy66860Perpignan CedexFrance
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB, UMR 5174)Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi‐Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS.118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R131062Toulouse cedex 9France
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