Epigenomic variation in the European brown bear: a pilot study to assess feasibility and potential of RRBS for the study of population adaptive differentiation

Mechanisms such as gene expression and epigenetic patterns play an important role in the adaptation to local environmental conditions and selective pressures, introducing non-genetic variability within the same species.Here, by using a reduced representation bisulfite sequencing approach (RRBS), we compared the methylation patterns in blood and muscle among three brown bear populations with profoundly different demographic and genetic trajectories, i.e. Central Apennines, Italian Alpine, and Scandinavian to uncover epigenetic differences and clues of local adaptation profiles.