Epigenetic diversity of grassland plants in the Biodiversity Exploratories

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Oliver Bossdorf, Ph.D.; Dr. Walter Durka
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems ; Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi
• Term: from 2014 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 252155013

The biological diversity within species is a fundamental level of biodiversity. It is important for evolution and adaptation of species to changing environments, and it can influence population and ecosystem processes in a similar way to the diversity among species. We now know that such within-species diversity can not only be created by variation in DNA sequence but also by epigenetic variation. Thus, epigenetic diversity appears to be a potentially important but so far overlooked level of functional biodiversity that we need to take into account in biodiversity research. So far, we know very little about the extent and distribution of epigenetic diversity in natural plant populations, or about its ecological causes and consequences.Here, we propose to thoroughly study epigenetic diversity in grassland plants in the Biodiversity Exploratories. We will take advantage of previous work in the Biodiversity Exploratories and focus on three common species (Bromus hordeaceus, Cerastium holosteosides and Trifolium repens) that have already been characterised at the level of DNA marker variation as well as quantitative genetic variation in phenotypes in previous projects. This will allow us to connect the epigenetic data to genetic and phenotypic data, and to test for the impact of land use intensity, and other environmental factors, on epigenetic diversity.We will quantify variability in DNA methylation patterns within and among all EPs in which the three target species occur, using methylation-sensitive (MS-)AFLP markers. We will do this both in plants growing in the field and in their offspring grown in a common garden, which will allow us to disentangle plastic and heritable components of epigenetic diversity. Finally, we will employ a novel epigenotyping-by-sequencing method on a subset of the samples to verify MS-AFLP results and establish a lab routine in this important new next-generation method.Thus, our project will have four main goals: (1) to quantify epigenetic diversity in three target species in the field and in a common garden, (2) to test for the effects of land use intensity on epigenetic diversity, (3) to examine associations between genetic, epigenetic and phenotypic diversity in the three target species, and (4) to build up expertise in the use of different molecular methods that can be used in ecological-epigenetic studies.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1374: Biodiversity Exploratories
• Participating Person: Dr. Stefan Michalski