Epigenetics and adaptive phenotypic variation between habitats in an asexual snail.

ABSTRACT: In neo-Darwinian theory, adaptation results from a response to selection on relatively slowly accumulating genetic variation. However, more rapid adaptive responses are possible if selectable or plastic phenotypic variation is produced by epigenetic differences in gene expression. This rapid path to adaptation may prove particularly important when genetic variation is lacking, such as in small, bottlenecked, or asexual populations. To examine the potential for an epigenetic contribution to adaptive variation, we examined morphological divergence and epigenetic variation in genetically impoverished asexual populations of a freshwater snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, from distinct habitats (two lakes versus two rivers). These populations exhibit habitat specific differences in shell shape, a

SUBMITTER: Thorson JLM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5658341 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature