Comparative epigenetic and genetic spatial structure of the perennial herb <i>Helleborus foetidus</i>: Isolation by environment, isolation by distance, and functional trait divergence

Herrera, Carlos M.; Medrano, Mónica; Bazaga, Pilar

doi:10.3732/ajb.1700162

Cited by 46 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 92 publications

(169 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…heterophylla. Consistent with the results from a perennial herb (Herrera, Medrano, & Bazaga, 2017), geographic distance explained genetic differentiation better than epigenetic differentiation, and epigenetic variation contributed to the divergence in functional traits in the perennial shrub. It is necessary to conduct transplantation or common garden experiments with offspring from populations in different habitats to distinguish the contribution of induced and inherited epigenetic variation to adaptive phenotypes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Genetic and epigenetic variations associated with adaptation to heterogeneous habitat conditions in a deciduous shrub

Liu

Cuiping

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmentally induced phenotypic plasticity is thought to play an important role in the adaption of plant populations to heterogeneous habitat conditions, and yet the importance of epigenetic variation as a mechanism of adaptive plasticity in natural plant populations still merits further research. In this study, we investigated populations of Vitex negundo var. heterophylla (Chinese chastetree) from adjacent habitat types at seven sampling sites. Using several functional traits, we detected a significant differentiation between habitat types. With amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) and methylation‐sensitive AFLP (MSAP), we found relatively high levels of genetic and epigenetic diversity but very low genetic and epigenetic differences between habitats within sites. Bayesian clustering showed a remarkable habitat‐related differentiation and more genetic loci associated with the habitat type than epigenetic, suggesting that the adaptation to the habitat is genetically based. However, we did not find any significant correlation between genetic or epigenetic variation and habitat using simple and partial Mantel tests. Moreover, we found no correlation between genetic and ecologically relevant phenotypic variation and a significant correlation between epigenetic and phenotypic variation. Although we did not find any direct relationship between epigenetic variation and habitat environment, our findings suggest that epigenetic variation may complement genetic variation as a source of functional phenotypic diversity associated with adaptation to the heterogeneous habitat in natural plant populations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Genetic and epigenetic variations associated with adaptation to heterogeneous habitat conditions in a deciduous shrub

Liu

Cuiping

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These results indicate that while the observed IBD genetic signature mostly reflects the long-term evolutionary dynamics of H. foetidus in this geographical region (e.g. limited gene flow and genetic drift), the epigenetic structure better reflects the ecological processes that have shaped population phenotypic differentiation (Herrera et al, 2017). In the same vein, Sheldon et al (2018) found similar degrees of genetic and DNA methylation differentiation between three invasive populations of house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in Australia originating from three independent introduction events.…”

Section: Case 1 (A Inmentioning

confidence: 87%

Linking epigenetics and biological conservation: Towards a conservation epigenetics perspective

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biodiversity conservation is a global issue where the challenge is to integrate all levels of biodiversity to ensure the long‐term evolutionary potential and resilience of biological systems. Genetic approaches have largely contributed to conservation biology by defining “conservation entities” accounting for their evolutionary history and adaptive potential, the so‐called evolutionary significant units (ESUs). Yet, these approaches only loosely integrate the short‐term ecological history of organisms. Here, we argue that epigenetic variation, and more particularly DNA methylation, represents a molecular component of biodiversity that directly links the genome to the environment. As such, it provides the required information on the ecological background of organisms for an integrative field of conservation biology. We synthesize knowledge about the importance of epigenetic mechanisms in (a) orchestrating fundamental development alternatives in organisms, (b) enabling individuals to respond in real‐time to selection pressures and (c) improving ecosystem stability and functioning. Using practical examples in conservation biology, we illustrate the relevance of DNA methylation (a) as biomarkers of past and present environmental stress events as well as biomarkers of physiological conditions of individuals; (b) for documenting the ecological structuring/clustering of wild populations and hence for better integrating ecology into ESUs; (c) for improving conservation translocations; and (d) for studying landscape functional connectivity. We conclude that an epigenetic conservation perspective will provide environmental managers the possibility to refine ESUs, to set conservation plans taking into account the capacity of organisms to rapidly cope with environmental changes, and hence to improve the conservation of wild populations. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

show abstract

“…In turn, narrow thermal tolerances should bias dispersal to occur most frequently between environments with similar temperature regimes, leading to neutral genetic differentiation associated with temperature and independent of geographic distance (Wang & Bradburd, 2014). Given recent evidence for the apparent ubiquity of isolation by environment in nature (Herrera, Medrano, & Bazaga, 2017; Manthey & Moyle, 2015; Sexton, Hangartner, & Hoffmann, 2014; Sexton et al, 2014; Shi et al, 2011; Wang & Bradburd, 2014; Weber, Bradburd, Stuart, Stutz, & Bolnick, 2017) and previous work demonstrating elevational ranges and thermal physiologies of our focal taxa broadly conform to predictions of the seasonality hypothesis (Sheldon & Tewksbury, 2014), we expected to see evidence of genetic differentiation across elevational ranges in the present study. We were therefore surprised to find no evidence of population genetic structure associated with elevation and little evidence of isolation by environment in any form (Figures 2 and 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Panmixia across elevation in thermally sensitive Andean dung beetles

Linck

Celi

Sheldon

2020

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Janzen's seasonality hypothesis predicts that organisms inhabiting environments with limited climatic variability will evolve a reduced thermal tolerance breadth compared with organisms experiencing greater climatic variability. In turn, narrow tolerance breadth may select against dispersal across strong temperature gradients, such as those found across elevation. This can result in narrow elevational ranges and generate a pattern of isolation by environment or neutral genetic differentiation correlated with environmental variables that are independent of geographic distance. We tested for signatures of isolation by environment across elevation using genome‐wide SNP data from five species of Andean dung beetles (subfamily Scarabaeinae) with well‐characterized, narrow thermal physiologies, and narrow elevational distributions. Contrary to our expectations, we found no evidence of population genetic structure associated with elevation and little signal of isolation by environment. Further, elevational ranges for four of five species appear to be at equilibrium and show no decay of genetic diversity at range limits. Taken together, these results suggest physiological constraints on dispersal may primarily operate outside of a stable realized niche and point to a lower bound on the spatial scale of local adaptation.

show abstract

Comparative epigenetic and genetic spatial structure of the perennial herb Helleborus foetidus: Isolation by environment, isolation by distance, and functional trait divergence

Cited by 46 publications

References 92 publications

Genetic and epigenetic variations associated with adaptation to heterogeneous habitat conditions in a deciduous shrub

Genetic and epigenetic variations associated with adaptation to heterogeneous habitat conditions in a deciduous shrub

Linking epigenetics and biological conservation: Towards a conservation epigenetics perspective

Panmixia across elevation in thermally sensitive Andean dung beetles

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About