Wild populations are often genetically structured in complex ways due to migration, selection, and drift. In highly mobile species such as the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), these complexities are exacerbated due to high levels of gene flow, which can make population delimitation challenging. Previously, Canada lynx populations appeared largely undifferentiated across continental North America at neutral genetic markers, with only small fine-scale differences across the landscape being correlated with climatic gradients. This climatic structuring aroused our interest in potential epigenetic differences between Canada lynx across their range, as environmentally-induced modifications to DNA could explain geographical or morphological differences that are not apparent in neutral DNA.

To test this hypothesis, we examined neutral genetic differences and patterns of DNA methylation between 95 Canada lynx across 4 geographical regions (Alaska, Manitoba, Québec, and an insular population on Newfoundland). We found that Newfoundland lynx were the most distinct at both genetic and epigenetic markers, consistent with what we would expect for an island population. However, despite low neutral genetic differentiation between all mainland populations, we detected stark epigenetic differences between Alaska lynx and the remaining mainland lynx. Further analyses indicated that these differences might correlate with increased energetic demands, consistent with Alaskan lynx being the morphologically largest of all in their range. Our study exemplifies the utility of epigenetic markers for assessing population structure, even in non-model systems characterized by extreme levels of gene flow. 

Read the full article: Meröndun J, Murray DL, Shafer ABA. Genome-scale sampling suggests cryptic epigenetic structuring and insular divergence in Canada lynx. Mol Ecol. 2019;28:3186–3196. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15131