ArticleIntegrative and comparative biology2013
The role of methylation of DNA in environmental adaptation.
Article in Integrative and comparative biology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effects of Exercise on DNA Methylation: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- Cooperative care influences genome-wide levels of DNA methylation in nestling chestnut-crowned babblers.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2026Article
- DNA hypomethylation enables the transcriptional repressor SlSPL-CNR to control fruit flavor ester biosynthesis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Contrasting epigenetics of Ixodes scapularis populations.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Epigenetics in Captivity: Restoring Wild Phenotypes in Captive-Reared Salmonids.Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Effects of RNAi-by-feeding on DNA methyltransferases inEnvironmental epigenetics · 2026Article
- Maternal Melatonin Supplementation Modulates Placental DNA Methylation and Gene Expression in Nutrient-Restricted Cattle.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Review
- Bistable Mutation-Selection Equilibria and Violations of Fisher's Theorem in Tetraploids: Insights from Nonlinear Dynamics.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- DNA Methylation-Associated Epigenetic Changes in Thermotolerance ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Epigenetic Responses to Anthropogenic Versus Natural Sources of Oil Exposure Differ in Wild Arctic Seabird Populations.Evolutionary applications · 2025Article
- SOD mediates mitochondrial epigenetic regulation in NIHL.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2025Article
- The DNA methyltransferase DMAP1 is required for tissue maintenance and planarian regeneration.Developmental biology · 2024Article
- Exploring changes in social spider DNA methylation profiles in all cytosine contexts following infection.Heredity · 2024Article
- DNA Methylation Changes and Phenotypic Adaptations Induced Repeated Extreme Altitude Exposure at 8848 Meters.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Examining the Effects of Environment, Geography, and Elevation on Patterns of DNA Methylation Across Populations of Two Widespread Bumble Bee Species.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Revisiting Epigenetics Fundamentals and Its Biomedical Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Epigenetic diversity of genes with copy number variations among natural populations of the three-spined stickleback.Evolutionary applications · 2024Article
- The DNA Methyltransferase DMAP1 is Required for Tissue Maintenance and Planarian Regeneration.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Repeat DNA methylation is modulated by adherens junction signaling.Communications biology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Methylation of DNA is an epigenetic mechanism that influences patterns of gene expression. DNA methylation marks contribute to adaptive phenotypic variation but are erased during development. The role of DNA methylation in adaptive evolution is therefore unclear. We propose that environmentally-induced DNA methylation causes phenotypic heterogeneity that provides a substrate for selection via forces that act on the epigenetic machinery. For example, selection can alter environmentally-induced methylation of DNA by acting on the molecular mechanisms used for the genomic targeting of DNA methylation. Another possibility is that specific methylation marks that are environmentally-induced, yet non-heritable, could influence preferential survival and lead to consistent methylation of the same genomic regions over time. As methylation of DNA is known to increase the likelihood of cytosine-to-thymine transitions, non-heritable adaptive methylation marks can drive an increased likelihood of mutations targeted to regions that are consistently marked across several generations. Some of these mutations could capture, genetically, the phenotypic advantage of the epigenetic mark. Thereby, selectively favored transitory alterations in the genome invoked by DNA methylation could ultimately become selectable genetic variation through mutation. We provide evidence for these concepts using examples from different taxa, but focus on experimental data on large-scale DNA sequencing that expose between-group genetic variation after bidirectional selection on honeybees, Apis mellifera.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.