Mixed Patterns of Intergenerational DNA Methylation Inheritance in Acropora

Area of Science:

• Marine Biology
• Genetics
• Epigenetics

Background:

• Sessile organisms like corals face climate change risks.
• Phenotypic plasticity and epigenetic inheritance are crucial for adaptation.
• DNA methylation, particularly gene-body methylation (gbM), is a key epigenetic regulator.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the heritability of DNA methylation in Acropora corals.
• To determine if epigenetic markers can be passed across generations in corals.
• To assess the role of methylation in coral acclimation to environmental change.

Main Methods:

• Crossed Acropora millepora and Acropora selago to produce offspring.
• Utilized whole-genome bisulfite sequencing to identify methylated loci.
• Employed allele-specific alignments to quantify methylation inheritance per locus.

Main Results:

• Found a significant proportion of heritable DNA methylation loci in coral offspring.
• Gene-body methylation (gbM) demonstrated higher heritability than intergenic methylation.
• Heritability of methylation was consistent across different crosses, though varied in degree.

Conclusions:

• Coral DNA methylation is heritable across generations.
• Methylation heritability is genomically heterogeneous, with implications for acclimation.
• Further research is needed to understand the phenotypic impact of this epigenetic inheritance in corals.