Epigenetic processes manage gene expression and products in a real‐time manner, allowing a single genome to display different phenotypes. In this paper, we discussed the relevance of assessing the different sources of epigenetic variation in natural populations. For a given genotype, the epigenetic variation could be environmentally induced or occur randomly. Strategies developed by organisms to face environmental fluctuations such as phenotypic plasticity and diversified bet‐hedging rely, respectively, on these different sources. Random variation can also represent a proxy of developmental stability and can be used to assess how organisms deal with stressful environmental conditions. We then proposed the microbiome as an extension of the epigenotype of the host to assess the factors determining the establishment of the community of microorganisms. Finally, we discussed these perspectives in the applied context of conservation.

中文翻译：

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表观遗传变异的来源及其在自然种群中的应用。

表观遗传过程以实时方式管理基因表达和产物，从而允许单个基因组展示不同的表型。在本文中，我们讨论了评估自然种群中表观遗传变异的不同来源的相关性。对于给定的基因型，表观遗传变异可能是环境诱导的或随机发生的。生物体应对诸如表型可塑性和多样化对冲等环境波动的策略分别依赖于这些不同的来源。随机变化也可以代表发育稳定性，可以用来评估生物体如何应对压力大的环境条件。然后，我们提出了微生物组作为宿主表观基因型的延伸，以评估决定微生物群落建立的因素。