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When is incomplete epigenetic resetting in germ cells favoured by natural selection?

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Author

Summary, in English

Resetting of epigenetic marks, such as DNA methylation, in germ cells or early embryos is not always complete. Epigenetic states may therefore persist, decay or accumulate across generations. In spite of mounting empirical evidence for incomplete resetting, it is currently poorly understood whether it simply reflects stochastic noise or plays an adaptive role in phenotype determination. Here, we use a simple model to show that incomplete resetting can be adaptive in heterogeneous environments. Transmission of acquired epigenetic states prevents mismatched phenotypes when the environment changes infrequently relative to generation time and when maternal and environmental cues are unreliable. We discuss how these results may help to interpret the emerging data on transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in plants and animals.

Publishing year

2015

Language

English

Publication/Series

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volume

282

Issue

1811

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Royal Society Publishing

Topic

  • Genetics

Keywords

  • parental effects
  • epigenetic inheritance
  • epigenetic reprogramming
  • inheritance
  • transgenerational plasticity
  • adaptation

Status

Published

Research group

  • Evolutionary Biology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1471-2954