Akkerman Kayla C, Sattarin Arash, Kelly John K, Scoville Alison G
Department of Biology, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA 98926, USA.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
Environ Epigenet. 2016 May 5;2(2):dvw003. doi: 10.1093/eep/dvw003. eCollection 2016 Apr.
Transgenerational phenotypic plasticity, whereby environmental cues experienced by parents alter the phenotype of their progeny, has now been documented in diverse organisms. Transmission of environmentally determined responses is known to occur through both maternal and paternal gametes, but the underlying mechanisms have rarely been compared. In addition, the persistence of induction over multiple generations appears to vary widely, but has been characterized for relatively few systems. Yellow monkeyflower () is known to exhibit transgenerational induction of increased glandular trichome production in response to simulated insect damage. Here, we test for differences between maternal and paternal transmission of this response and examine its persistence over five generations following damage. Maternal and paternal damage resulted in similar and apparently additive increases in progeny trichome production. Treatment of germinating seeds with the genome-wide demethylating agent 5-azacytidine erased the effect of maternal but not paternal damage. The number of glandular trichomes remained elevated for three generations following damage. These results indicate that transgenerational transmission occurs through both maternal and paternal germ lines, but that they differ in the proximate mechanism of epigenetic inheritance. Our results also indicate that a wounding response can persist for multiple generations in the absence of subsequent damage.
跨代表型可塑性是指亲代所经历的环境线索会改变其后代的表型，目前已在多种生物中得到证实。已知环境决定的反应可通过母本和父本配子进行传递，但很少对其潜在机制进行比较。此外，诱导在多代中的持续性似乎差异很大，但仅在相对较少的系统中得到了描述。已知黄花猴面花（）在受到模拟昆虫损伤时会表现出跨代诱导，导致腺毛产量增加。在这里，我们测试了这种反应在母本和父本传递之间的差异，并研究了损伤后五代内这种反应的持续性。母本和父本损伤导致后代腺毛产量出现相似且明显累加的增加。用全基因组去甲基化剂5-氮杂胞苷处理萌发的种子消除了母本损伤的影响，但未消除父本损伤的影响。损伤后三代内腺毛数量仍保持升高。这些结果表明，跨代传递通过母本和父本生殖系均可发生，但它们在表观遗传继承的近端机制上存在差异。我们的结果还表明，在没有后续损伤的情况下，创伤反应可以持续多代。
