Understanding the role of DNA methylation in successful biological invasions: a review

Hawes, Nicola A.; Fidler, Andrew E.; Dunphy, Brendon; Smith, Kirsty F.; Tremblay, Louis A.; Pochon, Xavier

doi:10.1007/s10530-018-1703-6

Cited by 54 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 106 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…With due caution, because species' range sizes were categorized using discrete classes rather than by direct quantification, this pattern suggests that reduced genomic methylation could perhaps favour the exploitation of a wider range of environmental conditions via enhanced epigenetic variability among populations or individuals (Richards et al, 2012), and/or that higher methylation could constrain the potential for colonization of new environments. These aspects deserve further study because of their potential implications for the success of biological invasions (Vogt, 2017;Hawes et al, 2018).…”

Section: Environmental and Phenotypic Correlates Of Global Methylationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecific variation across angiosperms in globalDNAmethylation: phylogeny, ecology and plant features in tropical and Mediterranean communities

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary The interspecific range of epigenetic variation and the degree to which differences between angiosperm species are related to geography, evolutionary history, ecological settings or species‐specific traits, remain essentially unexplored. Genome‐wide global DNA cytosine methylation is a tractable ‘epiphenotypic’ feature suitable for exploring these relationships. Global cytosine methylation was estimated in 279 species from two distant, ecologically disparate geographical regions: Mediterranean Spain and tropical México. At each region, four distinct plant communities were analyzed. Global methylation spanned a 10‐fold range among species (4.8–42.2%). Interspecific differences were related to evolutionary trajectories, as denoted by a strong phylogenetic signal. Genomes of tropical species were on average less methylated than those of Mediterranean ones. Woody plants have genomes with lower methylation than perennial herbs, and genomes of widespread species were less methylated than those of species with restricted geographical distribution. The eight communities studied exhibited broad and overlapping interspecific variances in global cytosine methylation and only two of them differed in average methylation. Altogether, our broad taxonomic survey supported global methylation as a plant ‘epiphenotypic’ trait largely associated with species evolutionary history, genome size, range size and woodiness. Additional studies are required for better understanding the environmental components underlying local and geographical variation.

show abstract

Section: Environmental and Phenotypic Correlates Of Global Methylationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecific variation across angiosperms in globalDNAmethylation: phylogeny, ecology and plant features in tropical and Mediterranean communities

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…DNA methylation variation is expected to be involved in the process of accommodation/adaptation to heterogeneous environments for invasive species (Hawes et al., and references therein; Pu & Zhan, ). Recent studies in invasive species showed that methylation diversity was much greater than genetic diversity in introduced populations of Japanese knotweed Fallopia species (Richards, Schrey, & Pigliucci, ) and Alligator weed Alternanthera philoxeroides (Gao et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methylation divergence of invasive Ciona ascidians: Significant population structure and local environmental influence

Lin

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The geographical expansion of invasive species usually leads to temporary and/or permanent changes at multiple levels (genetics, epigenetics, gene expression, etc.) to acclimatize to abiotic and/or biotic stresses in novel environments. Epigenetic variation such as DNA methylation is often involved in response to diverse local environments, thus representing one crucial mechanism to promote invasion success. However, evidence is scant on the potential role of DNA methylation variation in rapid environmental response and invasion success during biological invasions. In particular, DNA methylation patterns and possible contributions of varied environmental factors to methylation differentiation have been largely unknown in many invaders, especially for invasive species in marine systems where extremely complex interactions exist between species and surrounding environments. Using the methylation‐sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP) technique, here we investigated population methylation structure at the genome level in two highly invasive model ascidians, Ciona robusta and C. intestinalis, collected from habitats with varied environmental factors such as temperature and salinity. We found high intrapopulation methylation diversity and significant population methylation differentiation in both species. Multiple analyses, such as variation partitioning analysis, showed that both genetic variation and environmental factors contributed to the observed DNA methylation variation. Further analyses found that 24 and 20 subepiloci were associated with temperature and/or salinity in C. robusta and C. intestinalis, respectively. All these results clearly showed significant methylation divergence among populations of both invasive ascidians, and varied local environmental factors, as well as genetic variation, were responsible for the observed DNA methylation patterns. The consistent findings in both species here suggest that DNA methylation, coupled with genetic variation, may facilitate local environmental adaptation during biological invasions, and DNA methylation variation molded by local environments may contribute to invasion success.

show abstract

“…Given the plethora of challenges inherent to novel environments, we expect that epigenetically-mediated phenotypic plasticity may be a common mechanism by which non-native species cope with adversity . The role of molecular epigenetic mechanisms and phenotypic plasticity in facilitating invasion success has been gaining attention (Hawes et al 2018), but studies remain scarce for invading vertebrates. With recent advances and decreasing costs in sequencing technology, future studies investigating the contribution of both epigenetic and genetic variation to traits mediating invasiveness will provide valuable insight into the mechanistic bases of complex phenotypic responses to environmental heterogeneity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…splice variants, enhancer numbers, and various transcription factors) are likely also influential. However, our interest here was in DNA methylation because these marks are common and important regulators of gene expression in vertebrate genomes and implicated in multiple range expansions (Hawes et al 2018).…”

Section: Sources Of Variation In Tlr4 Expressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our interest in the present study is to explore more directly whether DNA methylation might facilitate plasticity and hence allow for rapid phenotypic matching to local conditions , Hawes et al 2018. The phenotypes of Kenyan house sparrow populations are quite variable (Liebl and Martin 2012, 2014, despite the recency of the expansion and extensive admixture .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

DNA methylation predicts immune gene expression in introduced house sparrows Passer domesticus

Kilvitis

Schrey

Ragsdale

et al. 2019

Journal of Avian Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Populations undergoing range expansions are often faced with novel selective pressures, and to cope with such challenges, populations must either adapt quickly or exhibit phenotypic plasticity. This latter option allows for rapid phenotypic adjustments and persistence in novel environments, and thus could be advantageous at range‐edges. Our previous research on house sparrows in Kenya – a site of ongoing range expansion – and a growing literature suggests that invasion success is facilitated by epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Previously, we found 1) differences in the expression of a microbial surveillance gene (i.e. Toll‐like receptor 4‐TLR4), and 2) extensive variation in genome‐wide DNA methylation among house sparrows across Kenya. Here, our goal was to investigate whether these two observations are related, specifically whether DNA methylation within a target sequence upstream of the TLR4 transcription start site is associated with variation in TLR4 expression. We found that DNA methylation in the aforementioned region was quite variable among individuals, and variation at one CpG site predicted differences in TLR4 expression. Moreover, we found genetic variation within the same sequence upstream of the TLR4 exon, but this variation did not predict TLR4 expression. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate an association between DNA methylation and the expression of an ecologically relevant trait in a range‐expanding vertebrate.

show abstract

Understanding the role of DNA methylation in successful biological invasions: a review

Cited by 54 publications

References 106 publications

Interspecific variation across angiosperms in globalDNAmethylation: phylogeny, ecology and plant features in tropical and Mediterranean communities

Interspecific variation across angiosperms in globalDNAmethylation: phylogeny, ecology and plant features in tropical and Mediterranean communities

Methylation divergence of invasive Ciona ascidians: Significant population structure and local environmental influence

DNA methylation predicts immune gene expression in introduced house sparrows Passer domesticus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About