128 years ago, August Weismann proposed that the only source of inherited genetic variation in animals is the germline¹. Julian Huxley reasoned that if this were true, it would falsify Jean-Baptiste Lamarck′s theory that acquired characteristics are heritable². Since then, scientists have discovered that not all animals segregate germline cells from somatic cells permanently and early in development³. In fact, throughout their lives, Cnidaria^4-6 and Porifera⁷ maintain primordial stem cells that continuously give rise to both germline and somatic cells. The fate of mutations generated in this primordial stem cell line during adulthood remains an open question. It was unknown whether post−embryonic mutations could be heritable in animals^8-10−until now. Here we use two independent genetic marker analyses to show that post-embryonic mutations are inherited in the coral Acropora palmata (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). This discovery upends the long-held supposition that post-embryonic genetic mutations acquired over an animal′s lifetime in non-germline tissues are not heritable². Over the centuries-long lifespan of a coral, the inheritance of post-embryonic mutations may not only change allele frequencies in the local larval pool but may also spread novel alleles across great distances via larval dispersal. Thus, corals may have the potential to adapt to changing environments via heritable somatic mutations¹⁰. This mechanism challenges our understanding of animal adaptation and prompts a deeper examination of both the process of germline determination in clonal animals and the role of post−embryonic genetic mutations in adaptation and epigenetics. Understanding the role of post−embryonic mutations in animal adaptation will be crucial as ecological change accelerates in the Anthropocene.

中文翻译：

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幼体珊瑚遗传了父母一生中获得的突变

128年前，奥古斯特·魏斯曼（August Weismann）提出，动物遗传遗传变异的唯一来源是种系¹。朱利安·赫x黎（Julian Huxley）认为，如果这是真的，那将歪曲让·巴蒂斯特·拉马克（Jean-Baptiste Lamarck）的理论，即后天特征是可遗传的²。从那时起，科学家们发现，并非所有的动物都能永久地并在发育早期将种系细胞与体细胞分离开³。实际上，Cnidaria ^4-6和Porifera ⁷终其一生维持原始干细胞，不断产生生殖细胞和体细胞。成年期这种原始干细胞系中产生的突变的命运仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。迄今为止，尚不清楚胚胎发育后的突变在^8-10只动物中是否可遗传。在这里，我们使用两个独立的遗传标记分析来显示胚后突变是在珊瑚Acropora palmata（Cnidaria，Anthozoa）中遗传的。这一发现颠覆了一个长期以来的假设，即在动物的整个生命周期内在非生殖系组织中获得的胚后遗传突变都是不可遗传的²。在珊瑚的百年历史中，胚后突变的遗传不仅可能改变当地幼虫池中的等位基因频率，而且还可能通过幼虫扩散在很长的距离内传播新的等位基因。因此，珊瑚有可能通过可遗传的体细胞突变¹⁰适应不断变化的环境。这种机制挑战了我们对动物适应性的理解，并促使人们更深入地研究克隆动物中种系的确定过程以及胚后遗传突变在适应性和表观遗传学中的作用。随着人类世间生态变化的加速，了解胚胎后突变在动物适应中的作用将至关重要。