Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35206684›Full record

ReviewInsects2022

Phenotypic Plasticity: What Has DNA Methylation Got to Do with It?

Elizabeth J Duncan, Christopher B Cunningham, Peter K Dearden

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Insects, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed
16.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

33 citing papers in PubMed, 69 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
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  14. Molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of a color polyphenism by genetic accommodation in the tobacco hornworm,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Elizabeth J DuncanSchool of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1841-504X
Christopher B CunninghamDepartment of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Peter K DeardenGenomics Aotearoa and Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0001-7790-9675
University of Georgia · USUniversity of Leeds · GBUniversity of Otago · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

How does one genome give rise to multiple, often markedly different, phenotypes in response to an environmental cue? This phenomenon, known as phenotypic plasticity, is common amongst plants and animals, but arguably the most striking examples are seen in insects. Well-known insect examples include seasonal morphs of butterfly wing patterns, sexual and asexual reproduction in aphids, and queen and worker castes of eusocial insects. Ultimately, we need to understand how phenotypic plasticity works at a mechanistic level; how do environmental signals alter gene expression, and how are changes in gene expression translated into novel morphology, physiology and behaviour? Understanding how plasticity works is of major interest in evolutionary-developmental biology and may have implications for understanding how insects respond to global change. It has been proposed that epigenetic mechanisms, specifically DNA methylation, are the key link between environmental cues and changes in gene expression. Here, we review the available evidence on the function of DNA methylation of insects, the possible role(s) for DNA methylation in phenotypic plasticity and also highlight key outstanding questions in this field as well as new experimental approaches to address these questions.

Indexed as

behaviourdevelopmentDNA methylationepigeneticsphenotypic plasticity

Identifiers

PMID35206684
PMCPMC8878681
OpenAlexW4205459931

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.