St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Register / Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Validating the demethylating effects of 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine in insects requires a whole-genome approach (A reply to Ellers et al.)

Thumbnail
View/Open
Cook_20019_AN_Validating_AAM.pdf (746.4Kb)
Date
09/2019
Author
Cook, Nicola
Parker, Darren J.
Tauber, Eran
Pannebakker, Bart A.
Shuker, David Michael
Funder
NERC
Grant ID
NE/J024481/1
Keywords
Sex ratio
5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine
DNA methylation
Nasonia vitripennis
QH301 Biology
QH426 Genetics
NDAS
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
We previously demonstrated that treatment with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-azadC) alters the offspring sex ratios produced by females of the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Cook et al. 2015). Females allocate offspring sex ratio in line with Local Mate Competition theory, producing more or less female-biased sex ratios as the number of other females laying eggs on a patch varies, thereby reducing competition amongst their sons for mates. Interestingly, treatment with 5-aza-dC did not ablate the facultative sex allocation response. Instead, sex ratios became less female-biased, a shift in the direction of the optimum sex ratio for paternally-inherited alleles according to genomic conflict theory. This was the first (albeit indirect) experimental evidence for genomic conflict over sex allocation. Ellers et al. (2019) have since assayed the effects of 5-aza-dC on DNA methylation in ten Nasonia genes, finding no evidence of demethylation in these 10 genes, from which they conclude that 5-aza-dC has no demethylating capability in Nasonia vitripennis. Quantifying the efficacy of 5-aza-dC in terms of demethylation is indeed crucial to in-depth interpretation of studies using 5-aza-dC to link phenotypes to epigenetic regulation. Here, we outline the mode of action of 5-aza-dC and demonstrate that determining the efficacy of 5-aza-dC in insect systems requires a whole-genome approach.
Citation
Cook , N , Parker , D J , Tauber , E , Pannebakker , B A & Shuker , D M 2019 , ' Validating the demethylating effects of 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine in insects requires a whole-genome approach (A reply to Ellers et al. ) ' , American Naturalist , vol. 194 , no. 3 . https://doi.org/10.1086/704248
Publication
American Naturalist
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1086/704248
ISSN
0003-0147
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2019, The University of Chicago. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher's policies. This is the author created accepted version manuscript following peer review and as such may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1086/704248
Description
This work was initiated as part of Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/J024481/1.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/19262

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter