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Inheritance of DNA methylation differences in the mangrove Rhizophora mangle
Author(s) -
Mounger Jeannie,
Boquete M. Teresa,
Schmid Marc W.,
Granado Renan,
Robertson Marta H.,
Voors Sandy A.,
Langanke Kristen L.,
Alvarez Mariano,
Wagemaker Cornelis A. M.,
Schrey Aaron W.,
Fox Gordon A.,
Lewis David B.,
Lira Catarina Fonseca,
Richards Christina L.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
evolution and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1525-142X
pISSN - 1520-541X
DOI - 10.1111/ede.12388
Subject(s) - biology , rhizophora mangle , epigenetics , genetic variation , evolutionary biology , ecology , genetic diversity , genetics , mangrove , population , gene , demography , sociology
The capacity to respond to environmental challenges ultimately relies on phenotypic variation which manifests from complex interactions of genetic and nongenetic mechanisms through development. While we know something about genetic variation and structure of many species of conservation importance, we know very little about the nongenetic contributions to variation. Rhizophora mangle is a foundation species that occurs in coastal estuarine habitats throughout the neotropics where it provides critical ecosystem functions and is potentially threatened by anthropogenic environmental changes. Several studies have documented landscape‐level patterns of genetic variation in this species, but we know virtually nothing about the inheritance of nongenetic variation. To assess one type of nongenetic variation, we examined the patterns of DNA sequence and DNA methylation in maternal plants and offspring from natural populations of R. mangle from the Gulf Coast of Florida. We used a reduced representation bisulfite sequencing approach (epi‐genotyping by sequencing; epiGBS) to address the following questions: (a) What are the levels of genetic and epigenetic diversity in natural populations of R. mangle ? (b) How are genetic and epigenetic variation structured within and among populations? (c) How faithfully is epigenetic variation inherited? We found low genetic diversity but high epigenetic diversity from natural populations of maternal plants in the field. In addition, a large portion (up to ~25%) of epigenetic differences among offspring grown in common garden was explained by maternal family. Therefore, epigenetic variation could be an important source of response to challenging environments in the genetically depauperate populations of this foundation species.