Epigenetic mechanisms mediate the experimental evolution of resistance against parasitic fungi in the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella.

ABSTRACT: Recent concepts in evolutionary biology suggest that epigenetic mechanisms can translate environmental selection pressures into heritable changes in phenotype. To determine whether experimental selection for a complex trait in insects involves epigenetic modifications, we carried out a generation-spanning experiment using larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella as a model host to investigate the role of epigenetics in the heritability of resistance against the parasitic fungus Metarhizium robertsii. We investigated differences in DNA methylation, histone acetylation and microRNA (miRNA) expression between an experimentally resistant population and an unselected, susceptible line, revealing that the survival of G. mellonella larvae infected with M. robertsii correlates with tissu

SUBMITTER: Mukherjee K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6367475 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature