title: Feeding conditions and breed affect the level of DNA methylation of the mitochondrial uncoupling protein 3 gene in chicken breast muscle.
abstract: To investigate the effects of feed condition and breed on the level of DNA methylation for the uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) gene, which is an important candidate gene for regulating intramuscular fat (IMF) content in chicken breast muscle, breast muscle of Daninghe (DNH) and Qingjiaoma (QJM) chickens under scatter-feed and captivity-feed conditions was analyzed. Using RNA sequencing, 47 and 113 candidate genes were determined to be related to feed conditions and breed, respectively, and 7 differentially expressed genes were confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR, including UCP3. The mRNA levels of UCP3 were significantly different between the 2 feed conditions. The DNA region from bp +1700 to +2459 of the UCP3 gene was studied using the bisulfite sequencing method and contained 46 methylation sites and 3 CpG islands. The results showed that the methylation level of this UCP3 region was lower in DNH chickens (0.77% to 0.88%, P = 0.012) and QJM chickens (0.88% to 0.91%, P = 0.20) under scatter-feed conditions than under captivity-feed conditions. The mean methylation level of UCP3 in DNH chickens was lower than that in QJM chickens under scatter-feed conditions (DNH to QJM, 0.77% to 0.88%, P = 0.007), which suggests that breed affects the mean methylation level of UCP3 under scatter-feed conditions. In summary, our findings suggest that feed condition and breed affect the methylation of UCP3 in chicken breast muscle.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: X Z
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Q R
authors.initials: QR
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Q G
authors.initials: QG
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D005248:Feeding Methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010369:Pectoralis Muscles / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D013045:Species Specificity; D000071247:Uncoupling Protein 3
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000071247:Uncoupling Protein 3