THE BIOLOGY OF PUBERTY

The objective of this review was to develop a broader, more biological, overview of puberty, as opposed to the more limited, laboratory-dominated, view that has emanated from experimental physiology. Three conceptual schemes form the basis for our broader perspective. The first deals with the ways in which genes and environmental factors interact to program the timing of reproductive development. The second focuses on the ways environmental factors interact with each other to influence puberty. The third relates the genetic and environmental controls to specific endocrine and neuroendocrine pathways of action.
The more traditional approach of studying domesticated animals under carefully controlled conditions predetermines one's conclusions. One logically will conclude that the final stages of reproductive development are rather rigidly determined genetically and not greatly subject to environmental regulation, except for obviously adaptive pheromonal and photoperiodic regulation. One also will search within the reproductive axis itself for the final developmental step that allows functional fertility. In contrast, a more biological view suggests that for most mammals puberty is a highly labile process subject to several kinds of environmental influences that operate at many times during a mammal's life. Furthermore this perspective suggests that the final developmental step allowing fertility onset normally will occur outside rather than within the reproductive axis proper. This conclusion has a potentially great impact upon the way we look at the organization of the brain and endocrine system and in the way we choose animal models for studying human puberty and the types of controls we study.     

Environmentally induced phenotypes and DNA methylation: how to deal with unpredictable conditions until the next generation and after

Organisms often respond to environmental changes by producing alternative phenotypes. Epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation may contribute to environmentally induced phenotypic variation by modifying gene expression. Changes in DNA methylation, unlike DNA mutations, can be influenced by the environment; they are stable at the time scale of an individual and present different levels of heritability. These characteristics make DNA methylation a potentially important molecular process to respond to environmental change. The aim of this review is to present the implications of DNA methylation on phenotypic variations driven by environmental changes. More specifically, we explore epigenetic concepts concerning phenotypic change in response to the environment and heritability of DNA methylation, namely the Baldwin effect and genetic accommodation. Before addressing this point, we report major differences in DNA methylation across taxa and the role of this modification in producing and maintaining environmentally induced phenotypic variation. We also present the different methods allowing the detection of methylation polymorphism. We believe this review will be helpful to molecular ecologists, in that it highlights the importance of epigenetic processes in ecological and evolutionary studies.