Environmentally induced DNA methylation is inherited across generations in an aquatic keystone species.

ABSTRACT: Transgenerational inheritance of environmentally induced epigenetic marks can have significant impacts on eco-evolutionary dynamics, but the phenomenon remains controversial in ecological model systems. We used whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of individual water fleas (Daphnia magna) to assess whether environmentally induced DNA methylation is transgenerationally inherited. Genetically identical females were exposed to one of three natural stressors, or a de-methylating drug, and their offspring were propagated clonally for four generations under control conditions. We identified between 70 and 225 differentially methylated CpG positions (DMPs) in F1 individuals whose mothers were exposed to a natural stressor. Roughly half of these environmentally induced DMPs persisted until gen

SUBMITTER: Feiner N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9097707 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature