期刊
GENES
卷 12, 期 1, 页码 -出版社
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/genes12010107
关键词
genetic structure; empirical comparative study; DNA methylation; nongenetic heredity; population genomics; freshwater
资金
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche [ANR-10LABX, ANR 18-CE02-0006]
The study found positive relationships between genetic and epigenetic distances in both sympatric fish species, with epigenetic marks showing better discrimination of populations than genetic markers, especially in G. occitaniae. However, the link between epigenetic differentiation and environmental distances was not significant when controlling for genetic differentiation, indicating a noncausal relationship. These results suggest that fish epigenetic variation is mainly genetically determined and weakly influenced by the environment.
Epigenetic components are hypothesized to be sensitive to the environment, which should permit species to adapt to environmental changes. In wild populations, epigenetic variation should therefore be mainly driven by environmental variation. Here, we tested whether epigenetic variation (DNA methylation) observed in wild populations is related to their genetic background, and/or to the local environment. Focusing on two sympatric freshwater fish species (Gobio occitaniae and Phoxinus phoxinus), we tested the relationships between epigenetic differentiation, genetic differentiation (using microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers), and environmental distances between sites. We identify positive relationships between pairwise genetic and epigenetic distances in both species. Moreover, epigenetic marks better discriminated populations than genetic markers, especially in G. occitaniae. In G. occitaniae, both pairwise epigenetic and genetic distances were significantly associated to environmental distances between sites. Nonetheless, when controlling for genetic differentiation, the link between epigenetic differentiation and environmental distances was not significant anymore, indicating a noncausal relationship. Our results suggest that fish epigenetic variation is mainly genetically determined and that the environment weakly contributed to epigenetic variation. We advocate the need to control for the genetic background of populations when inferring causal links between epigenetic variation and environmental heterogeneity in wild populations.
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