Abstract
The Green-legged Partridgelike fowl is a native, dual-purpose Polish chicken. The White Leghorn has been intensively selected for several decades to mainly improve reproductive traits. Primordial germ cells (PGCs) represent the germline stem cells in chickens and are the only cells that can transfer the information stored in the genetic material from generation to generation. The aim of the study was to carry out a transcriptomic and an epigenetic comparison of the White Leghorn and Green-legged Partridgelike gonadal PGCs (gPGCs) at three developmental stages: days 4.5, 8, and 12 of the embryonic development. RNA and DNA were isolated from collected gPGCs. The RNA was further subjected to microarray analysis. An epigenetic analysis was performed based on the global methylation analysis and qMSP method for the particular silenced genes demonstrated in transcriptomic analysis. Statistically significant differences between the gPGCs from both breeds were detected on the day 8 of embryonic development. Global methylation analysis showed significant changes at the methylation level in the White Leghorn gPGCs on day 8 of embryonic development. The results suggest faster development of Green-legged Partridgelike embryos as compared to White Leghorn embryos. Changes in the levels of gene expression during embryonic development are determined by genetic and environmental factors, and this variability is influenced by breed and gender.
Highlights
Intensive genetic selection of chicken for the economically important production traits, which has been carried out for almost a century, has resulted in the considerable differences in the mechanisms of growth and development and, as a consequence, in the metabolism and reproduction of avians [1]
Primordial germ cells (PGCs) represent the germline stem cells in chicken, which can be identified at an early stage X of Hamburger–Hamilton (HH)
In our previous study on gonadal PGCs (gPGCs) isolated from an intensively selected breed, White Leghorn (WL), we investigated the dynamics of the transcriptome during chicken embryo development [13]
Summary
Intensive genetic selection of chicken for the economically important production traits, which has been carried out for almost a century, has resulted in the considerable differences in the mechanisms of growth and development and, as a consequence, in the metabolism and reproduction of avians [1] These differences might be identified at the early stages of avian embryogenesis [2,3,4]. Primordial germ cells (PGCs) represent the germline stem cells in chicken, which can be identified at an early stage X of Hamburger–Hamilton (HH) Further differentiation of these cells depends on the formation of the embryo [10]. Due to limited cell numbers, the epigenetic regulation of gene expression during the PGC determination and cell migration in vivo has been rarely studied [12]
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