Dataset Information

Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of pituitaries during the initiation of puberty in gilts.

ABSTRACT: It has been widely recognized that the early or delayed puberty appears to display harmful effects on adult health outcomes. During the timing of puberty, pituitaries responds to the hypothalamus and then introduce the following response of ovaries in hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. DNA methylation has been recently suggested to regulate the onset of puberty in female mammals. However, to date, the changes of DNA methylation in pituitaries have not been investigated during pubertal transition. In this study, using gilts as the pubertal model, the genome-scale DNA methylation of pituitaries was profiled and compared across Pre-, In- and Post-puberty by using the reduced representation bisulfite sequencing. We found that average methylation levels of each genomic feature in Post- were lower than Pre- and In-pubertal stage in CpG context, but they were higher in In- than that in Pre- and Post-pubertal stage in CpH (where H = A, T, or C) context. The methylation patterns of CpHs were more dynamic than that of CpGs at the location of high CpG content, low CpG content promoter genes, and differently genomic CGIs. Furthermore, the differently genomic CGIs were likely to show in a similar manner in CpG context but display in a stage-specific manner in the CpH context across the Pre-, In- and Post-pubertal stage. Among these pubertal stages, 5 kb upstream regions of the transcription start sites were protected from both CpG and CpH methylation changes. 12.65% of detected CpGs were identified as the differentially methylated CpGs, regarding 4301 genes which were involved in the fundamental functions of pituitaries. 0.35% of detected CpHs were identified as differentially methylated CpHs, regarding 3691 genes which were involved in the biological functions of releasing gonadotropin hormones. These observations and analyses would provide valuable insights into epigenetic mechanism of the initiation of puberty in pituitary level.

SUBMITTER: Yuan X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6405085 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of pituitaries during the initiation of puberty in gilts.

Yuan Xiaolong X Li Zhonghui Z Ye Shaopan S Chen Zitao Z Huang Shuwen S Zhong Yuyi Y Zhang Hao H Li Jiaqi J Zhang Zhe Z

PloS one 20190307 3

It has been widely recognized that the early or delayed puberty appears to display harmful effects on adult health outcomes. During the timing of puberty, pituitaries responds to the hypothalamus and then introduce the following response of ovaries in hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. DNA methylation has been recently suggested to regulate the onset of puberty in female mammals. However, to date, the changes of DNA methylation in pituitaries have not been investigated during pubertal transiti ...[more]

PMID: 30845225

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Project description:BackgroundIn female mammals, the initiation of puberty, coupling with the dramatically morphological changes in ovaries, indicates the sexual and follicular maturation. Previous studies have suggested that the disrupted DNA methylation results in the delayed puberty. However, to date, the changes in ovarian methylomes during pubertal transition have not been investigated. In this study, using gilts as a pubertal model, the genome-wide DNA methylation were profiled to explore their dynamics during pubertal transition across Pre-, In- and Post-puberty.ResultsDuring pubertal transition, the follicles underwent maturation and luteinization, coupled with the significant changes in the mRNA expression of DNMT1 and DNMT3a. DNA methylation levels of In-puberty were higher than that of Pre- and Post-puberty at the locations of genes and CpG islands (CGIs). Analysis of the DNA methylation changes identified 12,313, 20,960 and 17,694 differentially methylated CpGs (DMCs) for the comparisons of Pre- vs. In-, In vs. Post-, and Pre- vs. Post-puberty, respectively. Moreover, the CGIs, upstream and exonic regions showed a significant underrepresentation of DMCs, but the CGI shores, CGI shelves, intronic, downstream and intergenic regions showed a significant overrepresentation of DMCs. Furthermore, biological functions of these methylation changes enriched in PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, GnRH signaling pathway, and Insulin secretion, and the mRNA expressions of several genes of these signaling pathway, including MMP2, ESR1, GSK3B, FGF21, IGF1R, and TAC3, were significantly changed across Pre-, In- and Post-puberty in ovaries.ConclusionsDuring pubertal transition in gilts, the DNA methylation changes of ovaries were likely to affect the transcription of genes related to PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, GnRH signaling pathway, and Insulin secretion. These observations can provide new insight into the epigenetic mechanism of follicular and sexual maturation during pubertal transition in mammals.

Project description:BackgroundThe Metarhizium genus harbors important entomopathogenic fungi. These species have been widely explored as biological control agents, and strategies to improve the fungal virulence are under investigation. Thus, the interaction between Metarhizium species and susceptible hosts have been explored employing different methods in order to characterize putative virulence determinants. However, the impact of epigenetic modulation on the infection cycle of Metarhizium is still an open topic. Among the different epigenetic modifications, DNA methylation of cytosine bases is an important mechanism to control gene expression in several organisms. To better understand if DNA methylation can govern Metarhizium-host interactions, the genome-wide DNA methylation profile of Metarhizium anisopliae was explored in two conditions: tick mimicked infection and a saprophytic-like control.ResultsUsing a genome wide DNA methylation profile based on bisulfite sequencing (BS-Seq), approximately 0.60% of the total cytosines were methylated in saprophytic-like condition, which was lower than the DNA methylation level (0.89%) in tick mimicked infection condition. A total of 670 mRNA genes were found to be putatively methylated, with 390 mRNA genes uniquely methylated in the tick mimicked infection condition. GO terms linked to response to stimuli, cell wall morphogenesis, cytoskeleton morphogenesis and secondary metabolism biosynthesis were over-represented in the tick mimicked infection condition, suggesting that energy metabolism is directed towards the regulation of genes associated with infection. However, recognized virulence determinants known to be expressed at distinct infection steps, such as the destruxin backbone gene and the collagen-like protein gene Mcl1, were found methylated, suggesting that a dynamic pattern of methylation could be found during the infectious process. These results were further endorsed employing RT-qPCR from cultures treated or not with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-Azacytidine.ConclusionsThe set of genes here analyzed focused on secondary metabolites associated genes, known to be involved in several processes, including virulence. The BS-Seq pipeline and RT-qPCR analysis employing 5-Azacytidine led to identification of methylated virulence genes in M. anisopliae. The results provided evidences that DNA methylation in M. anisopliae comprises another layer of gene expression regulation, suggesting a main role of DNA methylation regulating putative virulence determinants during M. anisopliae infection cycle.

Dataset Information

Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of pituitaries during the initiation of puberty in gilts.

Publications

Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of pituitaries during the initiation of puberty in gilts.

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