Genetic and Epigenetic Changes during the Upward Expansion of Deyeuxia angustifolia Kom. in the Alpine Tundra of the Changbai Mountains, China

Abstract

Ecological adaptation plays an important role in the process of plant expansion, and genetics and epigenetics are important in the process of plant adaptation. In this study, genetic and epigenetic analyses and soil properties were performed on D. angustifolia of 17 populations, which were selected in the tundra zone on the western slope of the Changbai Mountains. Our results showed that the levels of genetic and epigenetic diversity of D. angustifolia were relatively low, and the main variation occurred among different populations (amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP): 95%, methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP): 87%). In addition, DNA methylation levels varied from 23.36% to 35.70%. Principal component analysis (PCA) results showed that soil properties of different populations were heterogeneous. Correlation analyses showed that soil moisture, pH and total nitrogen were significantly correlated with genetic diversity of D. angustifolia, and soil temperature and pH were closely related to epigenetic diversity. Simple Mantel tests and partial Mantel tests showed that genetic variation significantly correlated with habitat or geographical distance. However, the correlation between epigenetic variation and habitat or geographical distance was not significant. Our results showed that, in the case of low genetic variation and genetic diversity, epigenetic variation and DNA methylation may provide a basis for the adaptation of D. angustifolia.

The Contribution of Epigenetics to Evolutionary Adaptation in Zingiber kawagoii Hayata (Zingiberaceae) Endemic to Taiwan

“…Epigenetic changes are closely related to climatic factors such as temperature [ 31 , 33 , 81 ] and precipitation [ 31 , 33 ]. Epigenetic changes are also found to be closely associated with ecological factors such as soil factors [ 31 , 82 ], NDVI, and PET [ 31 , 33 ]. Topographic variables including slope and aspect are also found to be closely related to epigenetic changes [ 31 , 33 ].…”

Epigenetic variation: A major player in facilitating plant fitness under changing environmental conditions

“…All these factors make alpine habitats a fragile ecosystem, ideal for studying the effect of the environment on epigenomes. Many studies in alpine plants have indicated that epigenetic modifications play an important role in the adaptive response to climatic changes and local adaptations ( Wu et al, 2013 ; Zhao et al, 2014 ; Nicotra et al, 2015 ; Song et al, 2015 ; Alakärppä et al, 2018 ; Schinkel et al, 2020 ; Ni et al, 2021 ) ( Table 1 ). Further, studies have also revealed interesting observations of epigenetic regulation of fitness and adaptability of populations in ecological communities like grasslands ( Herrera and Bazaga, 2010 ), temperate deciduous forests ( Avramidou et al, 2015 ; Gugger et al, 2016 ; Ahn et al, 2017 ; Vanden Broeck et al, 2018 ) and communities from colder continental and Mediterranean climates ( Saéz-Laguna et al, 2014 ) ( Table 1 ).…”