Genetics Research International

The Role of Epigenetics in Evolution: The Extended Synthesis


Publishing date
15 Jan 2012
Status
Published
Submission deadline
15 Jul 2011

1Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, C. S. Mott Center for Human Health and Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

3Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA

4Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755, USA


The Role of Epigenetics in Evolution: The Extended Synthesis

Description

In 1942, Julian Huxley wrote an influential book Evolution: The Modern Synthesis that influenced generations of geneticists to today. The basis of the “modern synthesis,” also called the “new synthesis,” is that it addresses the question of whether Mendelian genetics could be reconciled with gradual evolution by means of natural selection of existing genetic variation. The modern synthesis states that “genetic assimilation” of existing variation can explain adaptation to a stressful environment and the evolution of new species. We propose an “ultramodern synthesis” that incorporates a range of responses an organism makes to environmental change or uncertainty, the timescales of these processes, the potential for reversibility, and the interplay between individual and population processes. Epigenetics is not an alternative to genetically-based adaptation. Rather, it is a mechanism by which an individual adjusts his biology in response to some stimulus and potentially transmits that change across generations.

We invite authors to submit original research articles as well as review articles in the following topics for both human and model organism evolution. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Transgeneration epigenetics
  • How epigenetic effects contribute to phenotypic variation and ecological breadth in native and invasive plants
  • Experimental evolution of epigenetic effects in Arabidopsis
  • Phenotypic plasticity in natural and agricultural systems in changing environments
  • Bioinformatics evidence for epigenetic changes leading to genetic changes
  • Bioinformatics evidence that prions are involved in epigenetic inheritance
  • Epigenetic contributions to repeat expansions and contractions in the genome
  • Hsp90 as an epigenetic capacitor for morphological evolution
  • Quantitative epigenetics and the epigenetic assimilation of metastable epialleles
  • Hybrid incompatibilities, evolution, and epigenetics
  • Heterochromatin evolution
  • Neocentromere evolution
  • The role of imprinting in evolution
  • The role of X-chromosome inactivation in evolution

Articles published in this special issue will not be subject to the journal's Article Processing Charges.

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/gri/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable:


Articles

  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 286164
  • - Editorial

The Role of Epigenetics in Evolution: The Extended Synthesis

Aaron W. Schrey | Christina L. Richards | ... | Douglas M. Ruden
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 698421
  • - Review Article

Environmental Heterogeneity and Phenotypic Divergence: Can Heritable Epigenetic Variation Aid Speciation?

Ruth Flatscher | Božo Frajman | ... | Ovidiu Paun
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 534289
  • - Review Article

The Key Role of Epigenetics in the Persistence of Asexual Lineages

Emilie Castonguay | Bernard Angers
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 430136
  • - Review Article

How Can Satellite DNA Divergence Cause Reproductive Isolation? Let Us Count the Chromosomal Ways

Patrick M. Ferree | Satyaki Prasad
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 430587
  • - Review Article

Homologue Pairing in Flies and Mammals: Gene Regulation When Two Are Involved

Manasi S. Apte | Victoria H. Meller
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 324293
  • - Review Article

The “Special” crystal-Stellate System in Drosophila melanogaster Reveals Mechanisms Underlying piRNA Pathway-Mediated Canalization

Maria Pia Bozzetti | Laura Fanti | ... | Valeria Specchia
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 640612
  • - Review Article

The Impact of the Organism on Its Descendants

Patrick Bateson
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 867951
  • - Review Article

Genetics: Polymorphisms, Epigenetics, and Something In Between

Keith A. Maggert
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 795069
  • - Review Article

Finding a Balance: How Diverse Dosage Compensation Strategies Modify Histone H4 to Regulate Transcription

Michael B. Wells | Györgyi Csankovszki | Laura M. Custer

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