Population epigenetics

Richards, Eric J.

doi:10.1016/j.gde.2008.01.014

Cited by 144 publications

(152 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…A promising system in which to measure epigenetic heritability is in inbred lines of plants, since plants seem to have particularly sophisticated cellular mechanisms of adaptation, and several cases of epigenetic inheritance based on chromatin marks have been reported in plants ( Jablonka and Raz 2009). The phenotypic effects of altering environmental conditions have been studied in plants, and data on the frequency of phenotypic change are known for some cases (Bossdorf et al 2008;Johannes et al 2008Johannes et al , 2009Richards 2008;Reinders et al 2009;Whittle et al 2009). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Epigenetic inheritance occurs between generations of asexually and sexually reproducing organisms, directly affecting the hereditary structure of populations and providing a potential mechanism for their evolution (Jablonka andLamb 1995, 2005;Bonduriansky and Day 2009;Jablonka and Raz 2009;Verhoeven et al 2009). It is therefore necessary to develop tools to study its prevalence and estimate its contribution to the heritable variance in the population (Bossdorf et al 2008;Johannes et al 2008Johannes et al , 2009Richards 2008;Reinders et al 2009;Teixeira et al 2009). …”

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confidence: 99%

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Epigenetic Contribution to Covariance Between Relatives

2010

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Recent research has pointed to the ubiquity and abundance of between-generation epigenetic inheritance. This research has implications for assessing disease risk and the responses to ecological stresses and also for understanding evolutionary dynamics. An important step toward a general evaluation of these implications is the identification and estimation of the amount of heritable, epigenetic variation in populations. While methods for modeling the phenotypic heritable variance contributed by culture have already been developed, there are no comparable methods for nonbehavioral epigenetic inheritance systems. By introducing a model that takes epigenetic transmissibility (the probability of transmission of ancestral phenotypes) and environmental induction into account, we provide novel expressions for covariances between relatives. We have combined a classical quantitative genetics approach with information about the number of opportunities for epigenetic reset between generations and assumptions about environmental induction to estimate the heritable epigenetic variance and epigenetic transmissibility for both asexual and sexual populations. This assists us in the identification of phenotypes and populations in which epigenetic transmission occurs and enables a preliminary quantification of their transmissibility, which could then be followed by genomewide association and QTL studies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Epigenetic Contribution to Covariance Between Relatives

2010

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“…To determine the effect of epigenetic inheritance on evolutionary processes, genetic and epigenetic variance must be independent or at least not completely dependent on each other (Richards 2008(Richards , 2011. Hence, some studies used clones that completely lack genetic variation and were either derived from apomictic lineages (Verhoeven et al 2010) or generated by vegetative propagation (Fang and Chao 2007;Monteuuis et al 2008).…”

Section: Epigenetic Variation In Natural Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetic Variation, Inheritance, and Selection in Plant Populations

Hirsch

Baumberger

Grossniklaus

2012

Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology

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Plant populations show phenotypic diversity, which may be caused by genetic and epigenetic variation. It has recently been shown that new epigenetic variants are generated at a higher rate than genetic variants and several studies have shown that epigenetic variation can be influenced by the environment. Although the heritability of environmentally induced epigenetic traits has gained increasing interest in past years, it is still not clear whether and to what extent induced epigenetic changes have a role in ecology and evolution. Some reports on model and nonmodel species support the possibility of adaptive epigenetic alleles, indicating that epigenetic variants are subject to natural selection. However, most of these studies rely solely on phenotypic data and no information is available about the underlying mechanisms. Thus, the role of inherited epigenetic variation for plant adaptation is unclear and further investigations are required to gain insights into the significance of epigenetic variation for ecological and evolutionary processes. Here, we review mechanisms of epigenetic regulation, epigenetic responses to environmental challenges, their inheritance, and their implication for adaptation and plant evolution.

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“…A recent review by Richards (Richards, 2008) establishes that there is significant and function-affecting genetic variability in the genes responsible for epigenetic control. Data are largely confined to mammals and flowering plants, and we will consider these two groups separately, in spite of the similarity of the techniques used.…”

Section: Measuring Epigenetic Variation In Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Population genomics, by detailing and quantifying diversity within species, not only catalogues variation in economically, medically or agriculturally important genes, but also hints at possible evolutionary trajectories. Population epigenomics (Richards, 2008;Vieira et al, 2009) has similar potential, but unfortunately, also some of the same problems, and those exacerbated.…”

Section: Introduction: the Potential And Pitfalls Of Population Epigementioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenomic plasticity within populations: its evolutionary significance and potential

Johnson

Tricker

2010

Heredity

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Epigenetics has progressed rapidly from an obscure quirk of heredity into a data-heavy 'omic' science. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of epigenomic regulation, and the extent of its importance in nature, are far from complete, but in spite of such drawbacks, population-level studies are extremely valuable: epigenomic regulation is involved in several processes central to evolutionary biology including phenotypic plasticity, evolvability and the mediation of intragenomic conflicts. The first studies of epigenomic variation within populations suggest high levels of phenotypically relevant variation, with the patterns of epigenetic regulation varying between individuals and genome regions as well as with environment. Epigenetic mechanisms appear to function primarily as genome defences, but result in the maintenance of plasticity together with a degree of buffering of developmental programmes; periodic breakdown of epigenetic buffering could potentially cause variation in rates of phenotypic evolution.

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Population epigenetics

Cited by 144 publications

References 52 publications

Epigenetic Contribution to Covariance Between Relatives

Epigenetic Contribution to Covariance Between Relatives

Epigenetic Variation, Inheritance, and Selection in Plant Populations

Epigenomic plasticity within populations: its evolutionary significance and potential

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