Environmental Epigenomes
A special issue of Epigenomes (ISSN 2075-4655).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 32920
Special Issue Editors
Interests: environmental epigenetics; DNA methylation; toxicology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite submissions for a Special Issue focusing on environmental epigenetics. Research in epigenetics has dramatically grown during the last decade, including various aspects of environmental biology. Nowadays, many questions are still pending regarding the effects and consequences of environmental stressors on the epigenome, embracing the particular role of epigenetic mechanisms in the adaptation and evolution of organisms in a changing environment. Epigenetics is commonly defined as mitotically and/or meiotically heritable changes in gene function that cannot be explained by changes in gene sequence. It includes DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation, histone modifications, chromatin structure and non-coding RNAs that may, under some circumstances, be inherited across generations. At the interplay between the environment and the genome, epigenetic mechanisms are perfect candidates to extend our understanding of the modes of action of environmental stressors on organisms and to explain the rapid phenomenon of adaptive evolution. Evidences exist showing that environmental cues can affect the epigenome, which can modify gene expression accordingly. These changes may thereafter induce phenotypic modifications at the organism level, being morphological, physiological or behavioral. In the field of evolutionary biology, epigenetic mechanisms have been seen as the "missing link" that could give neo-lamarckian theories a new youth.
It has been assumed that epigenetic modifications, such as genetic changes, can have a critical role in short-term microevolution while contributing to macroevolutionary processes such as speciation and adaptive radiation. However, to correctly evaluate the potential of epigenetics to be a driver of evolution, it is necessary that correlated phenotypic changes affect the fitness. It is also required that we evaluate its autonomy from genetic variation as well as its transgenerational stability. In this special issue, the term "environmental" refers to any change of an organism's surroundings, abiotic or biotic, excluding the exposure to specific pathogens. Examples of environmental parameters are temperature, acidity, oxygen level or other physico-chemical changes, as well as exposure to xenobiotics. Host-pathogen interactions can also be considered in a perspective of co-evolution. Any species can be included, model organisms or wild species. Studies on humans can also be considered if it is not purely biomedical.
Some examples of topics that can be tackled in this Special Issue are (non-exhaustive): the role of epigenetics in evolutionary theories, the effects of environmental stressors on non-model species, the origin of epimutations (genetic, environmental, stochastic), the transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, the modes of action and adverse outcome pathways of xenobiotics, epigenetic changes at the population level, consequences of epigenetic changes on an organism's fitness, early life stress and delayed effects, autonomy of epigenetic variation from genetic variation, epigenome-wide association studies, contribution of epigenetic variation in phenotypic variation, etc. Pure methodological papers are not in the scope of this issue, except if it concerns a specific development in environmental epigenetics. Studies about any epigenetic mechanisms are welcome. We look forward to receiving your manuscripts soon.
Prof. Dr. Frédéric Silvestre
Dr. Bambarendage Perera
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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