生物
分子钟
进化生物学
系统发育树
自拍
DNA甲基化
表观遗传学
遗传学
基因
人口
基因表达
人口学
社会学
作者
Nan Yao,Nan Zhang,Li Yu,Ritam Hazarika,Chunmei Yu,Han Byul Jang,Lisa M. Smith,Jurriaan Ton,Liang Liu,John J. Stachowicz,Thorsten B. H. Reusch,Robert J. Schmitz,Frank Johannes
标识
DOI:10.1101/2023.03.15.532766
摘要
Molecular clocks are the basis for dating the divergence between lineages over macro-evolutionary timescales (~10 5 -10 8 years). However, classical DNA-based clocks tick too slowly to inform us about the recent past. Here, we demonstrate that stochastic DNA methylation changes at a subset of cytosines in plant genomes possess a clock-like behavior. This 'epimutation-clock' is orders of magnitude faster than DNA-based clocks and enables phylogenetic explorations on a scale of years to centuries. We show experimentally that epimutation-clocks recapitulate known topologies and branching times of intra-species phylogenetic trees in the selfing plant A. thaliana and the clonal seagrass Z. marina , which represent two major modes of plant reproduction. This discovery will open new possibilities for high-resolution temporal studies of plant biodiversity.
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