Abstract
Molecular clocks are the basis for dating the divergence between lineages over macro-evolutionary timescales (~105-108years). However, classical DNA-based clocks tick too slowly to inform us about the recent past. Here, we demonstrate that stochastic DNA methylation changes at a subset of cytosines in plant genomes possess a clock-like behavior. This ‘epimutation-clock’ is orders of magnitude faster than DNA-based clocks and enables phylogenetic explorations on a scale of years to centuries. We show experimentally that epimutation-clocks recapitulate known topologies and branching times of intra-species phylogenetic trees in the selfing plantA. thalianaand the clonal seagrassZ. marina, which represent two major modes of plant reproduction. This discovery will open new possibilities for high-resolution temporal studies of plant biodiversity.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cited by
1 articles.
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1. Stochasticity in gene body methylation;Current Opinion in Plant Biology;2023-10