DNA methylation pattern of the goat PITX1 gene and its effects on milk performance

Haiyu Zhao; Sihuan Zhang; Xianfeng Wu; Chuanying Pan; Xiangchen Li; Chuzhao Lei; Hong Chen; Xianyong Lan

doi:10.5194/aab-62-59-2019

DNA methylation pattern of the goat PITX1 gene and its effects on milk performance

Arch Anim Breed. 2019 Feb 20;62(1):59-68. doi: 10.5194/aab-62-59-2019. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Haiyu Zhao¹, Sihuan Zhang¹, Xianfeng Wu¹, Chuanying Pan¹, Xiangchen Li², Chuzhao Lei¹, Hong Chen¹, Xianyong Lan¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
² Institute of Beijing Animal Science and Veterinary, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Beijing 100194, China.

Abstract

Paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 1 (PITX1) is a pivotal gene in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which is a well-known pathway affecting lactation performance. The aim of this study was to analyze the DNA methylation profile of the PITX1 gene and its relevance to milk performance in Xinong Saanen dairy goats; thus, potential epigenetic markers of lactation performance were identified. A total of 267 goat blood samples were divided into "low" and "high" groups according to two milk traits: the average milk yield (AMY) and the average milk density (AMD). One CpG island in the 3 $^{'}$ -flanking region of the PITX1 gene was identified as being related to milk performance. Fisher's exact test demonstrated that the methylation rates of the overall CpG island and the 3rd and 12th CpG-dinucleotide loci in the blood were significantly associated with the AMY, and the overall methylation rate of the high AMY group was relative hypomethylation compared with the low AMY group. The overall methylation rates of this CpG island in mammary gland tissue from dry and lactation periods again exhibited a significant difference: the lactation period showed relative hypomethylation compared with the dry period. Bioinformatic transcription factor binding site prediction identified some lactation performance related transcription factors in this CpG island, such as CTCF, STAT, SMAD, CDEF, SP1, and KLFS. Briefly, overall methylation changes of the CpG island in the PITX1 gene are relevant to lactation performance, which will be valuable for future studies and epigenetic marker-assisted selection (eMAS) in the breeding of goats with respect to lactation performance.