Phenotypic Plasticity: What Has DNA Methylation Got to Do with It?

ABSTRACT: How does one genome give rise to multiple, often markedly different, phenotypes in response to an environmental cue? This phenomenon, known as phenotypic plasticity, is common amongst plants and animals, but arguably the most striking examples are seen in insects. Well-known insect examples include seasonal morphs of butterfly wing patterns, sexual and asexual reproduction in aphids, and queen and worker castes of eusocial insects. Ultimately, we need to understand how phenotypic plasticity works at a mechanistic level; how do environmental signals alter gene expression, and how are changes in gene expression translated into novel morphology, physiology and behaviour? Understanding how plasticity works is of major interest in evolutionary-developmental biology and may have implications for

SUBMITTER: Duncan EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8878681 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature