Changes in DNA methylation contribute to rapid adaptation in bacterial plant pathogen evolution.

ABSTRACT: Adaptation is usually explained by beneficial genetic mutations that are transmitted from parents to offspring and become fixed in the adapted population. However, genetic mutation analysis alone is not sufficient to fully explain the adaptive processes, and several studies report the existence of nongenetic (or epigenetic) inheritance that can enable adaptation to new environments. In the present work, we tested the hypothesis of the role of DNA methylation, a form of epigenetic modification, in adaptation of the plant pathogen Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum to the host during experimental evolution. Using SMRT-seq technology, we analyzed the methylomes of 31 experimentally evolved clones obtained after serial passages on 5 different plant species during 300 generations. Comparison with the

SUBMITTER: Gopalan-Nair R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11460718 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature