Transgenerational epigenetics in quail: targeting DNA methylation patterns to address the interplay between genetic and epigenetic mechanisms
Résumé
Prenatal environment influence on the adult phenotype development is partially mediated by epigenetic phenomena. Recently, an increasing number of studies highlighted epigenetic mark transmission between generations following an environmental exposure. However, there is much debate about the transmission to the descendants of exposed individuals. Recent studies revealed that non-genetic inheritance is probably present in avian species. In one of them, performed in japanese quails, fertilized eggs were injected with an endocrine disruptor (genistein) and after three generations without any other injection, several traits were impacted by the ancestor treatment such as reproduction and behavior. This study compares blood DNA methylation levels between control and treated lines in the third generation. Using Oxford Nanopore Technology sequencing, we aim to investigate whether the environment has an influence on the epigenetic marks of individuals three generations after injection. Thousands of differentially methylated cytosines (DMC) were detected between epilines which highlights potential transgenerational effects of genistein on DNA methylation. However, most of the methylation level variability seems to correlate with genetic variability. We now aim to thoroughly investigate the potential regions for which epigenetic variability does not seem driven by genetic variability, as potential candidate regions to explain the unique transmission of epigenetics to next generations.
Domaines
Génétique animale| Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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