Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39098855›Full record

ArticleNature communications2024

Gene body methylation evolves during the sustained loss of parental care in the burying beetle.

Peter Sarkies, Jennifer Westoby, Rebecca Mary Kilner, Rahia Mashoodh

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. The Updated Genome of the Burying BeetleEcology and evolution · 2024
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
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

4 authors.

Peter SarkiesDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Jennifer WestobyDepartment of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Rebecca Mary KilnerDepartment of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. rmk1002@cam.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-1159-0758
Rahia MashoodhDepartment of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. r.mashoodh@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-3065-9044

Funding

EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council) 310785 BALDWINIAN_BEETLESRCUK | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) BB/R01115X/1Royal Society RGS\R1\191162
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Epigenetic modifications, such as 5-methylcytosine (5mC), can sometimes be transmitted between generations, provoking speculation that epigenetic changes could play a role in adaptation and evolution. Here, we use experimental evolution to investigate how 5mC levels evolve in populations of biparental insect (Nicrophorus vespilloides) derived from a wild source population and maintained independently under different regimes of parental care in the lab. We show that 5mC levels in the transcribed regions of genes (gene bodies) diverge between populations that have been exposed to different levels of care for 30 generations. These changes in 5mC do not reflect changes in the levels of gene expression. However, the accumulation of 5mC within genes between populations is associated with reduced variability in gene expression within populations. Our results suggest that evolved change in 5mC could contribute to phenotypic evolution by influencing variability in gene expression in invertebrates.

Indexed as

5-MethylcytosineColeopteraDNA MethylationEpigenesis, GeneticAnimalsBehavior, AnimalBiological EvolutionEvolution, MolecularFemaleMale5-Methylcytosine

Identifiers

PMID39098855
PMCPMC11298552

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.