Meeting Abstract

69-4   11:15 - 11:30  Is transgenerational plasticity mediated by DNA methylation? An investigation into germline inheritance in the purple sea urchin. Strader, ME*; Buckley, KM; Auburn University; Auburn University stradermarie@gmail.com

The rapidly changing climate is challenging biologists to consider mechanistic ways in which organisms respond to shifting environments. The epigenome is emerging as a potential mediator between organismal genomes and phenotypes, although this connection remains minimally understood. For epigenetic changes to contribute to the adaptive potential of a species, mechanisms that drive phenotypic change need to be heritable. We utilize the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) to investigate how the environment influences the epigenome and if these changes connect to fitness related phenotypes both in an intragenerational and intergenerational context. Conditioning adult sea urchins to different controlled environments during gametogenesis results in changes in DNA methylation in larval offspring, suggesting the potential for transgenerational inheritance of epigenomic patterns. However, no studies to date have examined germline inheritance patterns in deuterostome invertebrates. Here, we profile genome-wide DNA methylation patterns from adult somatic tissue, gametes, and early developmental stages. We hypothesize that the epigenome is mostly constrained by genetic background and early developmental transitions, although we explore the potential for the inheritance of environmentally plastic epigenomic marks, which may contribute to transgenerational plasticity. These data will inform the extent to which the epigenome is reprogrammed through gametogenesis and the potential for carry-over effects from adult methylation patterns to larvae.