Project description:Global climate change increasingly polarizes environments, presenting unprecedented challenges to many organisms (Smol, 2012). Polarization occurs not only in the spatial dimension, producing greater desert drought and tropical rainfall, for example, but also in the temporal dimension by making a local environment more variable over time. Many organisms survive these fluctuating environmental conditions by manifesting multiple distinct phenotypes through developmental processes that enable phenotypic plasticity (Pigliucci et al., 2006; Parsons et al., 2011). As with early development, these processes are expected to strictly regulate gene expression to canalize phenotype, despite the genetic diversity within populations (Alberch, 1982; Riska, 1986, Pigliucci et al., 1996). For plasticity to evolve, natural selection must act on genes that regulate trait variation, e.g, those conferring norms of reaction to a specific set of conditions. Despite the importance of these reaction norms for coping with environmental challenges, the genetic framework underlying phenotypic plasticity remains poorly defined, making it impossible to study how they function, differ among natural populations, and evolve. Here we used arsenic, a chemical inhibitor of salinity acclimation, to identify genes involved in transforming the gill from its freshwater to its seawater architecture in the euryhaline teleost Fundulus heteroclitus. Linear model interaction terms associated with the combined effect of arsenic and salinity challenge revealed an antagonistic relationship between arsenic exposure and salinity acclimation Exposure to arsenic during salinity acclimation yielded gene expression values similar to those observed in unexposed fish that remained in a stable environment, demonstrating that arsenic prevents changes in gene expression that normally enable osmotic plasticity. The gene sets defined by the interaction terms showed reduced inter-individual variation, suggesting unusually tight control, consistent with the hypothesis that they participate in a canalized developmental response. Evidence that natural selection acts to preserve their canalized gene expression was obtained by referencing three populations that differ in their adaptive tolerance to salinity changes (Whitehead et al., 2011). Specifically, populations adapted to withstand the widest salinity range showed both reduced transcriptional variation in genes enabling gill plasticity and an increased osmoregulatory capacity, highlighted by more stable plasma chloride concentrations in response to an osmotic challenge. Finally, we observed significantly fewer associations between genes underlying trait variation and their transcriptional regulators compared to genes that responded to only arsenic or salinity. Collectively, our results demonstrate that phenotypic plasticity converges on a molecular solution that parallels early development, in which the expression of phenotypic plasticity genes and phenotypes are canalized in part by reducing trans-regulatory complexity. 36 Sample comparisons with fish gills exposed to freshwater, freshwater to seawater for 1 hour, freshwater to seawater for 1 hour with arsenic, freshwater to seawater for 24 hours, freshwater to seawater for 24 hours with arsenic, and freshwater with arsenic for 48 hours
Project description:Three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) represents a convenient model to study microevolution - adaptation to freshwater environment. While genetic adaptations to freshwater are well-studied, epigenetic adaptations attracted little attention. In this work, we investigated the role of DNA methylation in the adaptation of marine stickleback population to freshwater conditions. DNA methylation profiling was performed in marine and freshwater populations of sticklebacks, as well as in marine sticklebacks placed into freshwater environment and freshwater sticklebacks placed into seawater. For the first time, we demonstrated that genes encoding ion channels kcnd3, cacna1fb, gja3 are differentially methylated between marine and freshwater populations. We also showed that after placing marine stickleback into fresh water, its DNA methylation profile partially converges to the one of a freshwater stickleback. This suggests that immediate epigenetic response to freshwater conditions can be maintained in freshwater population. Interestingly, we observed enhanced epigenetic plasticity in freshwater sticklebacks that may serve as a compensatory regulatory mechanism for the lack of genetic variation in the freshwater population. Some of the regions that were reported previously to be under selection in freshwater populations also show differential methylation. Thus, epigenetic changes might represent a parallel mechanism of adaptation along with genetic selection in freshwater environment.
Project description:Three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) represents a convenient model to study microevolution - adaptation to freshwater environment. While genetic adaptations to freshwater are well-studied, epigenetic adaptations attracted little attention. In this work, we investigated the role of DNA methylation in the adaptation of marine stickleback population to freshwater conditions. DNA methylation profiling was performed in marine and freshwater populations of sticklebacks, as well as in marine sticklebacks placed into freshwater environment and freshwater sticklebacks placed into seawater. For the first time, we demonstrated that genes encoding ion channels kcnd3, cacna1fb, gja3 are differentially methylated between marine and freshwater populations. We also showed that after placing marine stickleback into fresh water, its DNA methylation profile partially converges to the one of a freshwater stickleback. This suggests that immediate epigenetic response to freshwater conditions can be maintained in freshwater population. Interestingly, we observed enhanced epigenetic plasticity in freshwater sticklebacks that may serve as a compensatory regulatory mechanism for the lack of genetic variation in the freshwater population. Some of the regions that were reported previously to be under selection in freshwater populations also show differential methylation. Thus, epigenetic changes might represent a parallel mechanism of adaptation along with genetic selection in freshwater environment. This is the RNA-seq experiment, DNA methylation data (bisulfite-seq) is provided under accession number GSE82310.
Project description:Environmental variation along the geographical space can shape populations by natural selection. In the context of global warming and changing precipitation regimes, it is crucial to understand the role of environmental heterogeneity in tropical trees adaptation, given their disproportional contribution to water and carbon biogeochemical cycles. Here, we investigated how heterogeneity in freshwater availability along tropical wetlands has influenced molecular variations of the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans). A total of 57 trees were sampled at seven sites differing markedly in precipitation regime and riverine freshwater inputs. Using 2,297 genome‐wide single nucleotide polymorphic markers, we found signatures of natural selection by the association between variations in allele frequencies and environmental variables, including the precipitation of the warmest quarter and the annual precipitation. Additionally, we found candidate loci for selection based on statistical deviations from neutral expectations of interpopulation differentiation. Most candidate loci within transcribed sequences were functionally associated with central aspects of drought tolerance or plant response to drought. Moreover, our results suggest the occurrence of the rapid evolution of a population, probably in response to sudden and persistent limitations in plant access to soil water, following a road construction in 1974. Observations supporting rapid evolution included the reduction in tree size and changes in allele frequencies and in transcript expression associated with increased drought tolerance through the accumulation of osmoprotectants and antioxidants, biosynthesis of cuticles, protection against protein degradation, stomatal closure, photorespiration and photosynthesis. We describe a major role of spatial heterogeneity in freshwater availability in the specialization of this typically tropical tree.
Project description:We used microarrays to investigate gene expression changes in leukemic cells from Pax5+/- mice treated with antibiotics. Precursor B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pB-ALL), the most common type of childhood leukemia, is frequently characterized by the cooperation of a genetic predisposition acquired in utero and secondary oncogenic events taking place only in a fraction of predisposed children after birth. Although predisposition can be detected at birth, it is currently unknown which factors determine the development of overt leukemia in genetic carriers and how this can be potentially prevented. Experimental studies have shown that infectious stimuli promote disease onset in genetically predisposed mice. Here, we analyzed the impact of the microbiome on leukemogenesis in a mouse model (Pax5+/- mice) that faithfully mimicks genetic predisposition and leukemogenesis of human pB-ALL related to the synergy of genetic predisposition and exposure to a natural infectious environment. Employing 16S rRNA sequencing and machine learning we can accurately predict a distinct gut microbiome which is determined by a specific constitutional genetic variant. Deprivation of the gut microbiome by antibiotic treatment enhanced pB-ALL development in Pax5+/- predisposed (63% vs. 22%) but not in wildtype mice (0%). This finding was observed in the presence but also -to a lesser extent- in the absence of a natural, infectious environment (48%). The composition of the gut microbiome constitutes a biomarker signature and allows to identify specifically those Pax5+/- mice that developed leukemia. This indicates that the gut microbiome can be used to identify carriers at risk to develop leukemia and to reduce this risk by early-life interventions.
Project description:Microcystis is a genus of unicellular cyanobacteria capable of growing massively in freshwater ecosystems around the world and producing various toxins such as microcystins. We studied using an RNA-Seq approach the transcriptomes of three axenic strains of Microcystis, comprising the modele strain PCC 7806, selected because of their genetic potential for natural products. We assessed the expression of biosynthetic gene clusters during a 24-hour day/night cycle.