Speaker
Description
Epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, have a major role in gene regulation and in the preservation of genome integrity. In plants, aberrant gains or losses of DNA methylation (i.e. ‘epimutations’) are sometimes stably inherited to subsequent generations, independently of DNA sequence changes. Here I highlight our ongoing efforts to quantify the stability and phenotypic impact of such heritable epigenetic changes. Specifically, I show that experimentally-induced epimutations can generate heritable variation in a range of complex traits and contribute to heterotic phenotypes in F1 hybrids. I also present evidence that heritable epimutations in natural settings often arise from stochastic failures to maintain DNA methylation during somatic development. The high rate and regularity of these stochastic events define a ‘fast-ticking’ molecular clock, which can be used as a tool to study somatic as well as evolutionary phylogenies.
