Lyko, 2020

Lyko F. 2020. Epigenetic adaptation in a clonal invasive crayfish. Symposium presentation at Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, 3-7 January 2020, Austin, Texas, USA. http://vps40083.inmotionhosting.com/~sicb/meetings/2020/schedule/abstractdetails.php?id=3

Abstract

The parthenogenetic marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis) is a novel species that has rapidly invaded and colonized various different habitats. Remarkably, adaptation to different environments appears to be independent of the selection of genetic variants, as marbled crayfish represent an evolutionary young and genetically homogeneous clone. It therefore seems likely that marbled crayfish adaptation depends on epigenetic mechanisms. We have recently established the complete genome sequence of the marbled crayfish and identified an active DNA methylation system, thus establishing the capacity for epigentic regulation of this genome. We are now using integrated analysis of DNA methylation, chromatin and gene expression datasets to characterize the regulatory mechanism(s) used for epigenetic adaptation in marbled crayfish. In addition, we are analyzing epigenetic modification patterns of animals from ecologically distinct habitats at the population scale. Our results provide novel insights into invertebrate DNA methylation and its function in adaptive gene regulation.

Keywords: None provided.

(Note: This presentation was scheduled to be part of the symposium, “Building Bridges from Genome to Phenome: Molecules, Methods and Models.” It was not presented due to author’s inability to travel.)