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Epigenetic inheritance in evolution
Author(s) -
Jablonka E.,
Lamb M. J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1420-9101.1998.11020159.x
Subject(s) - biology , epigenetics , heredity , multicellular organism , inheritance (genetic algorithm) , transgenerational epigenetics , epigenesis , evolutionary biology , phenotype , genetics , cell , dna methylation , gene , gene expression
We discuss the role of cell memory in heredity and evolution. We describe the properties of the epigenetic inheritance systems (EISs) that underlie cell memory and enable environmentally and developmentally induced cell phenotypes to be transmitted in cell lineages, and argue that transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is an important and neglected part of heredity. By looking at the part EISs have played in the evolution of multicellularity, ontogeny, chromosome organization, and the origin of some post‐mating isolating mechanisms, we show how considering the role of epigenetic inheritance can sometimes shed light on major evolutionary processes.