Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM)

DNA methylations provide the genetic machinery with additional ways to regulate gene expression, and possibly new factors to select on during domestication. Here we show that MSHRM is a valuable tool for methylation detection and quantification in a smaller sample of animals. Three genes; RUFY3, PCDHAC1 and TXNDC16 were found to be significantly differently methylated between WL and RJF, correlating with differential expression and comparable to previous results by Nätt et al (unpublished data). The fourth gene, FUCA1, showed a clear trend towards differential methylation between the races and with a larger sample group those differences could be enhanced.
The findings indicate a larger epigenome variation in White Leghorns, which could imply that selection during domestication generated variation and that the epialleles are not fixated.
Even though no differences were found between cerebellum and diencephalon, primers designed for this experiment provide a ready to use tool for further testing in other tissues or generations in chicken.