Perera Bambarendage P U, Silvestre Frédéric
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Laboratory of Evolutionary and Adaptive Physiology, Institute of Life, Earth and Environment, University of Namur, 5000 Namur, Belgium.
Epigenomes. 2023 Sep 7;7(3):21. doi: 10.3390/epigenomes7030021.
Research in epigenetics has dramatically risen during the last decade to include aspects of environmental biology. However, many questions remain regarding the effects of environmental stressors on the epigenome, incorporating the particular role of epigenetic mechanisms in the adaptation and evolution of organisms in changing environments. Epigenetics is commonly defined as mitotically and/or meiotically heritable changes in gene function that occur without altering the underlying DNA sequence. It encompasses DNA (hydroxy)methylation, histone modifications, chromatin structure, and non-coding RNAs that may be inherited across generations under certain circumstances. Epigenetic mechanisms are perfect candidates to extend our understanding of the impact of environmental stressors on organisms and to explain the rapid phenomenon of adaptive evolution. Existing evidence shows that environmental cues can affect the epigenome and modify gene expression accordingly. These changes can then induce phenotypic modifications that are morphological, physiological, or behavioral at the organismal level. In this Special Issue focusing on environmental epigenetics, we provide an overview of influences to the epigenome that are driven by various environmental and evolutionary factors, with a particular focus on DNA methylation (DNAm). Five research groups have contributed insightful studies or reviews on (1) DNAm and demethylation events affected by the exposome; (2) DNAm as a potential biomarker to determine cardiometabolic risk early in life; (3) consequences of DNAm across multiple generations; (4) DNAm variation within natural animal populations; and (5) epigenetic mechanisms in genetically uniform organisms. Collectively, the articles from this Special Issue consistently support that environmental changes can induce long-lasting epigenetic effects within a given organism pertaining to individual risk for disease, or multi-generational impacts that ultimately impact evolution.
在过去十年中，表观遗传学研究急剧增加，已涵盖环境生物学的各个方面。然而，关于环境应激源对表观基因组的影响，仍存在许多问题，其中包括表观遗传机制在生物适应和进化不断变化的环境中的特殊作用。表观遗传学通常被定义为在不改变基础DNA序列的情况下发生的基因功能的有丝分裂和/或减数分裂可遗传变化。它包括DNA（羟基）甲基化、组蛋白修饰、染色质结构以及在某些情况下可能跨代遗传的非编码RNA。表观遗传机制是扩展我们对环境应激源对生物影响的理解并解释适应性进化快速现象的理想候选者。现有证据表明，环境线索可以影响表观基因组并相应地改变基因表达。这些变化随后可以在生物体水平上诱导形态、生理或行为上的表型修饰。在这个关注环境表观遗传学的特刊中，我们概述了由各种环境和进化因素驱动的对表观基因组的影响，特别关注DNA甲基化（DNAm）。五个研究小组对以下方面进行了有见地的研究或综述：（1）受暴露组影响的DNAm和去甲基化事件；（2）DNAm作为在生命早期确定心脏代谢风险的潜在生物标志物；（3）多代间DNAm的后果；（4）自然动物种群内的DNAm变异；以及（5）基因一致的生物体中的表观遗传机制。总体而言，本期特刊的文章一致支持环境变化可以在给定生物体中诱导与个体疾病风险相关的持久表观遗传效应，或最终影响进化的多代影响。
