Meeting Abstract

P1.51  Friday, Jan. 4  Fire ant invasion status accounts for variation in DNA methylation of lizard populations ROBBINS, T; SCHREY, A*; RICHARDS, C; LANGKILDE, T; Penn. State U.; Armstrong Atlantic State U.; U. South Florida; Penn. State U. aaron.schrey@armstrong.edu

Red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) have invaded half the native range of the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). Fire ants act as both predator of and prey for S. undulatus; hence the selective landscape is changed in both trophic directions. Fence lizards within invaded sites are more physiologically stressed, and have altered their behavior and morphology in response to these novel selective pressures. Variation in DNA methylation can be stably transmitted across generations and be active in stress-responses; therefore, may provide the short-term adaptive mechanism for some of the observed changes following invasion. We tested for variation in DNA methylation of S. undulatus from invaded versus uninvaded populations (n = 10 from each), and compared patterns across tissue types (blood versus toe-clip) using MS-AFLP. DNA methylation varied among individuals; every individual had a unique epigenotype, and there was similar diversity among populations. DNA methylation varied significantly between invaded and uninvaded populations; two loci had higher methylation in invaded populations, and one had higher methylation in uninvaded populations. Further research manipulating fire ant exposure will clarify whether these epigenetic differences are being driven by this invader, and shed light on the potential role an epigenetic mechanism may play in driving co-varying phenotypic change.