Between-Generation Phenotypic and Epigenetic Stability in a Clonal Snail.

ABSTRACT: Epigenetic variation might play an important role in generating adaptive phenotypes by underpinning within-generation developmental plasticity, persistent parental effects of the environment (e.g., transgenerational plasticity), or heritable epigenetically based polymorphism. These adaptive mechanisms should be most critical in organisms where genetic sources of variation are limited. Using a clonally reproducing freshwater snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum), we examined the stability of an adaptive phenotype (shell shape) and of DNA methylation between generations. First, we raised three generations of snails adapted to river currents in the lab without current. We showed that habitat-specific adaptive shell shape was relatively stable across three generations but shifted slightly over gene

SUBMITTER: Smithson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7513791 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature