RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in reef-building corals
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 269076
DO 10.1101/269076
A1 Yi Jin Liew
A1 Emily J. Howells
A1 Xin Wang
A1 Craig T. Michell
A1 John A. Burt
A1 Youssef Idaghdour
A1 Manuel Aranda
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/02/21/269076.abstract
AB The notion that intergenerational or transgenerational inheritance operates solely through genetic means is slowly being eroded: epigenetic mechanisms have been shown to induce heritable changes in gene activity in plants 1,2 and metazoans 1,3. Inheritance of DNA methylation provides a potential pathway for environmentally induced phenotypes to contribute to evolution of species and populations 1–4. However, in basal metazoans, it is unknown whether inheritance of CpG methylation patterns occurs across the genome (as in plants) or as rare exceptions (as in mammals) 4. Here, we demonstrate genome-wide intergenerational transmission of CpG methylation patterns from parents to sperm and larvae in a reef-building coral. We also show variation in hypermethylated genes in corals from distinct environments, indicative of responses to variations in temperature and salinity. These findings support a role of DNA methylation in the transgenerational inheritance of traits in corals, which may extend to enhancing their capacity to adapt to climate change.