The role of epigenetics in insects in changing environments

Abstract

The role of epigenetics in insects in changing environmentsThe special issue of Insect Molecular Biology on 'The role of epigenetics in insects in changing environments' has arrived. The field of epigenetics is concerned with how different cellular phenotypes arise from the same genotype (Nicoglou & Merlin, 2017). Understanding the nature and operation of epigenetic information is of great contemporary importance and interest (Allis & Jenuwein, 2016;Cavalli & Heard, 2019). Epigenetic information serves as a molecular intermediate that helps translate environmental signals received by the cell into changes in gene expression that allow the cell, and consequently, the organism, to produce a phenotype better suited to its surroundings.Epigenetic information affects gene function, can be passed on through cell divisions and impacts evolutionary processes (Fitz-