Mini-symposium 12

Origin and role of epigenetic information transmission in evolution

There is a mounting body of empirical evidence that information can be transmitted across generations through several channels other than variation in DNA sequence alone. Environmentally induced changes in gene expression can be inherited through incomplete resetting of methylation marks, for example, and parental behaviour affects offspring and subsequent descendants. Several theoretical papers have modelled these specific mechanisms. In spite of differences in the underlying mechanisms, these channels of genetic and non-genetic inheritance may be unified in their role as transmission of information across generations. Here, we propose a symposium to discuss the merits of such an approach. Specifically, is the information concept a useful framework to develop a theory of non-genetic inheritance? How do the insights generated from an information perspective compare to those from mechanistic models? Can we use this framework to predict the life-history and environmental conditions under which epigenetically regulated networks contribute to population adaptation to fitness landscapes? We will also discuss the origin and specific features (e.g., stability, inducibility) of information transmission under different mechanisms of inheritance: while DNA machinery seems to be selected for this purpose, it is less obvious how other mechanisms come to transmit information across generations.

Invited speakers

Olivier Rivoire: Models of information processing in evolving populations.

Ido Pen: When is incomplete epigenetic resetting in germ cells favoured by natural selection?

Organisers

Sinead English (University of Cambridge, UK), Jérôme Enjalbert (INRA, France), Maud Tenaillon (INRA, France), Tobias Uller (Lund University, Sweden).