Lamarck's "Phenotypic Plasticity" acts without Darwin


The study "Relationships between phenotypic plasticity and epigenetic variation in two Caribbean Acropora corals" by Hackerott et al. (2022) investigated the relationship between phenotypic plasticity and epigenetic variation in two species of Caribbean coral, Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata. The researchers found that there was a significant positive correlation between plastic shifts in physiology across seasons and shifts in DNA methylation profiles in both species. This suggests that epigenetic changes may play a role in mediating phenotypic plasticity in these corals.

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to express different phenotypes in response to different environmental conditions. This is a valuable trait for organisms that live in variable environments, as it allows them to adapt to changing conditions and survive. Epigenetic variation is a change in gene expression that is not caused by changes in the underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetic changes can be caused by environmental factors, such as temperature, salinity, and nutrient availability.

The researchers in this study found that the plastic shifts in physiology that occurred in the two coral species were correlated with changes in DNA methylation profiles. DNA methylation is a type of epigenetic modification that involves the addition of methyl groups to DNA. These methyl groups can affect gene expression by blocking the binding of transcription factors to DNA.

The researchers suggest that epigenetic changes may play a role in mediating phenotypic plasticity in these corals by regulating gene expression in response to environmental cues. This could allow the corals to adapt to changing environmental conditions by changing the expression of genes that are involved in important physiological processes, such as photosynthesis and respiration.

This study provides new insights into the role of epigenetics in phenotypic plasticity in corals. These findings could have important implications for understanding how corals respond to environmental change, and for developing strategies to conserve these important reef-building organisms.

Here are some additional points from the study:

  • The researchers used a variety of methods to assess phenotypic plasticity and epigenetic variation in the two coral species, including gene expression profiling, DNA methylation analysis, and physiological measurements.

  • They found that the plastic shifts in physiology that occurred in the two coral species were correlated with changes in DNA methylation profiles in both species.

  • The researchers suggest that epigenetic changes may play a role in mediating phenotypic plasticity in these corals by regulating gene expression in response to environmental cues.

  • This study provides new insights into the role of epigenetics in phenotypic plasticity in corals. These findings could have important implications for understanding how corals respond to environmental change, and for developing strategies to conserve these important reef-building organisms.


Article snippets:

The plastic ability for a range of phenotypes to be exhibited by the same genotype allows organisms to respond to environmental variation and may modulate fitness in novel environments

Differing capacities for phenotypic plasticity within a population, apparent as genotype by environment interactions (GxE), can therefore have both ecological and evolutionary implications

Epigenetic gene regulation alters gene function in response to environmental cues without changes to the underlying genetic sequence and likely mediates phenotypic variation.

DNA methylation profiles within genetic clones across different genotypes of Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata corals

The physiology of both species was highly influenced by environmental variation compared to the effect of genotype.

epigenetic variation was significantly related to coral physiological metrics.

plastic shifts in physiology across seasons were significantly positively correlated with shifts in DNA methylation profiles in both species.

this study provides quantitative support for the role of epigenetic DNA methylation in mediating phenotypic plasticity in invertebrates

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mec.17072


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