Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Evolution by natural selection can occur when organisms harbor genetically inherited phenotypic variation, and phenotypic variants have differential fitness. Stable transgenerational epigenetic variation also exists for fitness-related traits and theory predicts that selection can act on this variation alone without a contribution of genetic variation. Here, we artificially selected for divergent biomass, rosette size, flowering time and height at first silique in experimental Arabidopsis thaliana populations harboring DNA methylation polymorphism in an identical genetic background. We found significant epi-allele frequency changes in response to selection. Our results show how selection rapidly changed population trait values and their epigenetic basis, over one generation of selection. Our results imply the role of the transgenerational epigenetic variation of populations as an additional source of short-term adaptive potential
Source: Peer Community Journal
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Perpignan, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement, Université d'Orléans, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Physiologie, Ecologie et Environnement
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: European Commission
Award: G6310364451
OpenAlex ID: W4415587882