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Review
. 2021 Oct 30;7(1):dvab012.
doi: 10.1093/eep/dvab012. eCollection 2021.

Role of environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance in evolutionary biology: Unified Evolution Theory

Michael K Skinner  1 , Eric E Nilsson  1
Affiliations
Review

Role of environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance in evolutionary biology: Unified Evolution Theory

Michael K Skinner et al. Environ Epigenet. .

Abstract

The current evolutionary biology theory primarily involves genetic alterations and random DNA sequence mutations to generate the phenotypic variation required for Darwinian natural selection to act. This neo-Darwinian evolution is termed the Modern Evolution Synthesis and has been the primary paradigm for nearly 100 years. Although environmental factors have a role in neo-Darwinian natural selection, Modern Evolution Synthesis does not consider environment to impact the basic molecular processes involved in evolution. An Extended Evolutionary Synthesis has recently developed that extends the modern synthesis to consider non-genetic processes. Over the past few decades, environmental epigenetics research has been demonstrated to regulate genetic processes and directly generate phenotypic variation independent of genetic sequence alterations. Therefore, the environment can on a molecular level through non-genetic (i.e. epigenetic) mechanisms directly influence phenotypic variation, genetic variation, inheritance and adaptation. This direct action of the environment to alter phenotype that is heritable is a neo-Lamarckian concept that can facilitate neo-Darwinian (i.e. Modern Synthesis) evolution. The integration of genetics, epigenetics, Darwinian theory, Lamarckian concepts, environment, and epigenetic inheritance provides a paradigm shift in evolution theory. The role of environmental-induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance in evolution is presented to describe a more unified theory of evolutionary biology.

Keywords: Darwin; Lamarck; adaptation; epigenetic; evolution; genetics; inheritance; molecular; phenotype; review; transgenerational.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Representation of the primary epigenetic factors and processes schematic of non-coding RNA, DNA methylation, chromatin structure, histone modifications, and DNA structure presented. Modified from Nilsson et al. [46]
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Environmentally induced transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: schematic of environmental exposure and affected generations for both gestating female and adult male or female. The multigenerational direct exposures are indicated in contrast to the transgenerational generation without direct exposure. Modified from Nilsson et al. [46]
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Schematic of the Unified Theory of Evolution. No dominance is suggested by the appearance of specific circles (e.g. epimutations versus genetics) such that all are equally important components. Modified from Skinner [11]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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