Epigenetic Patterns and Geographical Parthenogenesis in the Alpine Plant Species Ranunculus kuepferi (Ranunculaceae).

ABSTRACT: Polyploidization and the shift to apomictic reproduction are connected to changes in DNA cytosine-methylation. Cytosine-methylation is further sensitive to environmental conditions. We, therefore, hypothesize that DNA methylation patterns would differentiate within species with geographical parthenogenesis, i.e., when diploid sexual and polyploid apomictic populations exhibit different spatial distributions. On natural populations of the alpine plant Ranunculus kuepferi, we tested differences in methylation patterns across two cytotypes (diploid, tetraploid) and three reproduction modes (sexual, mixed, apomictic), and their correlation to environmental data and geographical distributions. We used methylation-sensitive amplified fragment-length polymorphism (methylation-sensitive AFL

SUBMITTER: Schinkel CCF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7247541 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature