Developmental phenomics suggests that H3K4 monomethylation confers multi-level phenotypic robustness

How epigenetic modulators of gene regulation affect the development of animals has been difficult to ascertain. Despite the widespread presence of histone 3 lysine 4 monomethylation (H3K4me1) on enhancers, hypomethylation appears to have minor effects on phenotype and viability. In this study, we performed quantitative and unbiased measurements of key phenotypes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetically induced hypomethylation reduced transcription factor enrichment in nuclear microenvironments, leading to disrupted gene expression and reduced phenotypic robustness in response to temperature changes. Our developmental phenomics approach further showed widespread, but environmentally and genetically dependent, changes in morphology, metabolism, behavior, and offspring production. Therefore, quantitative phenomics measurements under conditions resembling the natural environments of a species could unravel how pleiotropic modulators of gene expression contribute to developmental robustness.

This submission contains the imaging files (confocal imaging and cuticle preparations) of the study.