Epigenetic Control of Phenotypic Plasticity in the Filamentous Fungus Neurospora crassa
Kronholm, I., Johannesson, H., & Ketola, T. (2016). Epigenetic Control of Phenotypic Plasticity in the Filamentous Fungus Neurospora crassa. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 6(12), 4009-4022. https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.116.033860
Published in
G3: Genes, Genomes, GeneticsDate
2016Discipline
Ekologia ja evoluutiobiologiaBiologisten vuorovaikutusten huippututkimusyksikköEcology and Evolutionary BiologyCentre of Excellence in Biological Interactions ResearchCopyright
© 2016 Kronholm et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of a genotype to produce different phenotypes under
different environmental or developmental conditions. Phenotypic plasticity is a ubiquitous feature of living
organisms, and is typically based on variable patterns of gene expression. However, the mechanisms by
which gene expression is influenced and regulated during plastic responses are poorly understood in most
organisms. While modifications to DNA and histone proteins have been implicated as likely candidates for
generating and regulating phenotypic plasticity, specific details of each modification and its mode of
operation have remained largely unknown. In this study, we investigated how epigenetic mechanisms affect
phenotypic plasticity in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. By measuring reaction norms of strains
that are deficient in one of several key physiological processes, we show that epigenetic mechanisms play a
role in homeostasis and phenotypic plasticity of the fungus across a range of controlled environments. In
general, effects on plasticity are specific to an environment and mechanism, indicating that epigenetic
regulation is context dependent and is not governed by general plasticity genes. Specifically, we found
that, in Neurospora, histone methylation at H3K36 affected plastic response to high temperatures, H3K4
methylation affected plastic response to pH, but H3K27 methylation had no effect. Similarly, DNA methylation
had only a small effect in response to sucrose. Histone deacetylation mainly decreased reaction
norm elevation, as did genes involved in histone demethylation and acetylation. In contrast, the RNA
interference pathway was involved in plastic responses to multiple environments.
...


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Genetics Society of AmericaISSN Search the Publication Forum
2160-1836Keywords
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2016 Kronholm et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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