Ecological plant epigenetics : Evidence from model and non-model species, and the way forward
Richards, C. L., Alonso, C., Becker, C., Bossdorf, O., Bucher, E., Colome-Tatche, M., . . . Verhoeven, K. J. F. (2017). Ecological plant epigenetics : Evidence from model and non-model species, and the way forward. Ecology Letters, 20 (12), 1576-1590. doi:10.1111/ele.12858
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Ecology LettersAuthors
Date
2017Discipline
Ekologia ja evoluutiobiologiaCopyright
© 2017 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Growing evidence shows that epigenetic mechanisms contribute to complex traits, with implications
across many fields of biology. In plant ecology, recent studies have attempted to merge ecological
experiments with epigenetic analyses to elucidate the contribution of epigenetics to plant
phenotypes, stress responses, adaptation to habitat, and range distributions. While there has been
some progress in revealing the role of epigenetics in ecological processes, studies with non-model
species have so far been limited to describing broad patterns based on anonymous markers of
DNA methylation. In contrast, studies with model species have benefited from powerful genomic
resources, which contribute to a more mechanistic understanding but have limited ecological realism.
Understanding the significance of epigenetics for plant ecology requires increased transfer of
knowledge and methods from model species research to genomes of evolutionarily divergent species,
and examination of responses to complex natural environments at a more mechanistic level.
This requires transforming genomics tools specifically for studying non-model species, which is
challenging given the large and often polyploid genomes of plants. Collaboration among molecular
geneticists, ecologists and bioinformaticians promises to enhance our understanding of the
mutual links between genome function and ecological processes.
...


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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2017 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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