Rapid changes in DNA methylation associated with the initiation of reproduction in a small songbird
| Autor: | Irene Verhagen, Veronika N. Laine, Kees van Oers, Marcel E. Visser, Arild Husby, Melanie Lindner, Heidi M. Viitaniemi |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Hut lab, Neurobiology, Zoology, Finnish Museum of Natural History, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Animal Ecology (AnE) |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine avian reproductive timing Biology 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Life history theory Epigenesis Genetic Evolutionsbiologi Songbirds 03 medical and health sciences Parus major Genetics Animals Epigenetics Passeriformes Genetik Gene Transcription factor Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics life history traits Evolutionary Biology DNA methylation Plan_S-Compliant-TA Mechanism (biology) Reproduction Promoter DNA Methylation biology.organism_classification Songbird 030104 developmental biology Evolutionary biology international 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology ecological epigenetics 1182 Biochemistry cell and molecular biology Female Seasons |
| Zdroj: | Molecular Ecology, 30(15), 3645-3659. Wiley Molecular Ecology 30 (2021) 15 Molecular Ecology, 30(15), 3645-3659 Molecular Ecology, 30(15), 3645-3659. Wiley-Blackwell |
| ISSN: | 0962-1083 |
| Popis: | Species with a circannual life cycle need to match the timing of their life history events to the environment to maximize fitness. However, our understanding of how circannual traits such as timing of reproduction are regulated on a molecular level remains limited. Recent studies have implicated that epigenetic mechanisms can be an important part in the processes that regulate circannual traits. Here, we explore the role of DNA methylation in mediating reproductive timing in a seasonally breeding bird species, the great tit (Parus major), using genome-wide DNA methylation data from individual females that were blood sampled repeatedly throughout the breeding season. We demonstrate rapid and directional changes in DNA methylation within the promoter region of several genes, including a key transcription factor (NR5A1) known from earlier studies to be involved in the initiation of timing of reproduction. Interestingly, the observed changes in DNA methylation at NR5A1 identified here are in line with earlier gene expression studies of reproduction in chicken, indicating that the observed shifts in DNA methylation at this gene can have a regulatory role. Our findings provide an important step towards elucidating the genomic mechanism that mediates seasonal timing of a key life history traits and provide support for the idea that epigenetic mechanisms may play an important role in circannual traits. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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