ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2017
Epigenetic variation between urban and rural populations of Darwin's finches.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review
- The Transcriptomic Response Along an Urbanization Gradient Is Also Temperature-Dependent in a Freshwater Insect.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Methods for analysing wildlife DNA methylation data.Conservation physiology · 2026Article
- Exploring stress and morphology in two songbird species across urban, agricultural, and natural habitats on San Cristobal Island, Galapagos.BMC zoology · 2025Article
- Generational stability of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance facilitates adaptation and evolution.Epigenetics · 2024Review
- Cellular, Molecular, and Genetic Mechanisms of Avian Beak Development and Evolution.Annual review of genetics · 2024Review
- Manipulation of a social signal affects DNA methylation of a stress-related gene in a free-living bird.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- Urbanization drives adaptive evolution in a Neotropical bird.Current zoology · 2023Article
- Population Epigenetics: The Extent of DNA Methylation Variation in Wild Animal Populations.Epigenomes · 2022Review
- Epigenetic induction may speed up or slow down speciation with gene flow.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2022Article
- Wild epigenetics: insights from epigenetic studies on natural populations.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Review
- Epigenetics and the city: Non-parallel DNA methylation modifications across pairs of urban-forest Great tit populations.Evolutionary applications · 2022Article
- Urbanization alters interactions between Darwin's finches andEcology and evolution · 2021Article
- Epigenetic effects of parasites and pesticides on captive and wild nestling birds.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Urban living influences the nesting success of Darwin's finches in the Galápagos Islands.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Review
- Role of environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance in evolutionary biology: Unified Evolution Theory.Environmental epigenetics · 2021Review
- Epigenetic variation in animal populations: Sources, extent, phenotypic implications, and ecological and evolutionary relevance.Journal of biosciences · 2021Review
- Urbanization is associated with modifications in DNA methylation in a small passerine bird.Evolutionary applications · 2021Article
- Epigenetics as Driver of Adaptation and Diversification in Microbial Eukaryotes.Frontiers in genetics · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
backgroundThe molecular basis of evolutionary change is assumed to be genetic variation. However, growing evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, may also be involved in rapid adaptation to new environments. An important first step in evaluating this hypothesis is to test for the presence of epigenetic variation between natural populations living under different environmental conditions.
resultsIn the current study we explored variation between populations of Darwin's finches, which comprise one of the best-studied examples of adaptive radiation. We tested for morphological, genetic, and epigenetic differences between adjacent "urban" and "rural" populations of each of two species of ground finches, Geospiza fortis and G. fuliginosa, on Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos. Using data collected from more than 1000 birds, we found significant morphological differences between populations of G. fortis, but not G. fuliginosa. We did not find large size copy number variation (CNV) genetic differences between populations of either species. However, other genetic variants were not investigated. In contrast, we did find dramatic epigenetic differences between the urban and rural populations of both species, based on DNA methylation analysis. We explored genomic features and gene associations of the differentially DNA methylated regions (DMR), as well as their possible functional significance.
conclusionsIn summary, our study documents local population epigenetic variation within each of two species of Darwin's finches.
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