Invasive species frequently differentiate phenotypically in novel environments within a few generations, often even with limited genetic variation. For the invasive plants Solidago canadensis and S. gigantea, we tested whether such differentiation might have occurred through heritable epigenetic changes in cytosine methylation. In a 2‐year common‐garden experiment, we grew plants from seeds collected along a latitudinal gradient in their non‐native Central European range to test for trait differentiation and whether differentiation disappeared when seeds were treated with the demethylation agent zebularine. Microsatellite markers revealed no population structure along the latitudinal gradient in S. canadensis, but three genetic clusters in S. gigantea. Solidago canadensis showed latitudinal clines in flowering phenology and growth. In S. gigantea, the number of clonal offspring decreased with latitude. Although zebularine had a significant effect on early growth, probably through effects on cytosine methylation, latitudinal clines remained (or even got stronger) in plants raised from seeds treated with zebularine. Thus, our experiment provides no evidence that epigenetic mechanisms by selective cytosine methylation contribute to the observed phenotypic differentiation in invasive goldenrods in Central Europe.

中文翻译：

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操纵胞嘧啶甲基化不能去除中欧两个入侵金毛species物种的纬度

外来入侵物种在几代人的新环境中常常表型上有所区别，即使遗传变异有限。对于入侵植物加拿大一枝黄花和巨型链球菌，我们测试了这种分化是否可能通过胞嘧啶甲基化的可遗传表观遗传变化而发生。在一项为期两年的普通花园实验中，我们从沿非本地中欧范围的纬度梯度收集的种子中生长出植物，以测试性状分化以及当用脱甲基化剂zebularine处理种子时分化是否消失。微卫星标记没有揭示加拿大链球菌沿纬度梯度的种群结构，但在加拿大有3个遗传簇。S. gigantea。加拿大一枝黄花在开花物候和生长方面表现出纬度系。在S. gigantea，克隆后代的数量随着纬度的增加而减少。尽管zebularine可能通过对胞嘧啶甲基化的影响而对早期生长产生显着影响，但从zebularine处理过的种子中培育出的植物中仍保留了经纬度（甚至变得更强）。因此，我们的实验没有提供证据表明选择性胞嘧啶甲基化的表观遗传机制有助于中欧入侵金毛病的表型分化。