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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Endemic Poultry Viral Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #376657
Research Project: Enhancing Genetic Resistance to Marek’s Disease in Poultry

Location: Endemic Poultry Viral Diseases Research

Title: Differential DNA methylation and gene expression between ALV-J-positive and ALV-J-negative chickens

Author
item YAN, YIMING - South China Agricultural Univerisity
item ZHANG, HUIHUA - Foshan University
item GAO, SHUANG - South China Agricultural Univerisity
item Zhang, Huanmin
item ZHANG, XINHENG - South China Agricultural Univerisity
item CHEN, WIEGUO - South China Agricultural Univerisity
item LIN, WENCHENG - South China Agricultural Univerisity
item XIE, QINGMEI - South China Agricultural Univerisity

Submitted to: Frontiers in Veterinary Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/28/2021
Publication Date: 5/31/2021
Citation: Yan, Y., Zhang, H., Gao, S., Zhang, H., Zhang, X., Chen, W., Lin, W., Xie, Q. 2021. Differential DNA methylation and gene expression between ALV-J-positive and ALV-J-negative chickens. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 8:659840. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.659840.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.659840

Interpretive Summary: Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) is an oncogenic virus, which is responsible for sporadic outbreaks of avian leukosis in parts of the world on chicken farms. In this study, modern biotechnology techniques were used to examine genetic and epigenetic differences between ALV-J resistant and susceptible chickens at molecular levels. Significant differences in DNA methylation and gene expression were found in multiple regions of the genomes between the two types of chickens, which provided additional information to advance the understanding of disease resistance attributable to genetic components and may empower programs for breeding disease resistant chickens.

Technical Abstract: Background: Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) is an oncogenic virus that causes serious economic losses in the poultry industry; unfortunately, there is no effective vaccine against ALV-J. DNA methylation plays a crucial role in several biological processes, and an increasing number of diseases have been proven to be related to alterations in DNA methylation. In this study, we screened ALV-J-positive and -negative chickens. Subsequently, we generated and provided the genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation profiles by MeDIP-seq and RNA-seq of ALV-J-positive and -negative chicken samples; 8,304 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified by MeDIP-seq analysis (p = 0.005) and 515 differentially expressed genes were identified by RNA-seq analysis (p = 0.05). As a result of an integration analysis, we screened six candidate genes to identify ALV-J-negative chickens that possessed differential methylation in the promoter region. Furthermore, TGFB2 played an important role in tumorigenesis and cancer progression, which suggested TGFB2 may be an indicator for identifying ALV-J infections.