Whole-genome methylation analysis reveals epigenetic variation between wild-type and nontransgenic cloned, ASMT transgenic cloned dairy goats generated by the somatic cell nuclear transfer

• Published in: 畜牧与生物技术杂志（英文版） Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 98 - 113
• Main Authors: Hao Wu, Wendi Zhou, Haijun Liu, Xudai Cui, Wenkui Ma, Haixin Wu, Guangdong Li, Likai Wang, Jinlong Zhang, Xiaosheng Zhang, Pengyun Ji, Zhengxing Lian, Guoshi Liu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding,Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agricultural,Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement,College of Animal Science and Technology,China Agricultural University,Beijing 100193,China 2023; Sany Institute of China Agricultural University,Sanya 572025,China%National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding,Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agricultural,Beijing Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic Improvement,College of Animal Science and Technology,China Agricultural University,Beijing 100193,China%Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary,Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Tianjin,Tianjin 300192,China%Qingdao Senmiao Industrial Co.,Ltd.,Qing-dao 266101,China
• Subjects: Acetylserotonin-O-methyltransferase; Somatic cell nuclear transfer; Gene editing; Dairy goat; DNA methylation
• ISSN: 1674-9782

Background: SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer) is of great significance to biological research and also to the livestock breeding. However, the survival rate of the SCNT cloned animals is relatively low compared to other trans-genic methods. This indicates the potential epigenetic variations between them. DNA methylation is a key marker of mammalian epigenetics and its alterations will lead to phenotypic differences. In this study, ASMT (acetylserotonin-O-methyltransferase) ovarian overexpression transgenic goat was produced by using SCNT. To investigate whether there are epigenetic differences between cloned and WT (wild type) goats, WGBS (whole-genome bisulfite sequencing) was used to measure the whole-genome methylation of these animals. Results: It is observed that the different mCpG sites are mainly present in the intergenic and intronic regions between cloned and WT animals, and their CG-type methylation sites are strongly correlated. DMR (differentially methylated region) lengths are located around 1000 bp, mainly distributed in the exonic, intergenic and intronic functional domains. A total of 56 and 36 DMGs (differentially methylated genes) were identified by GO and KEGG databases, respectively. Functional annotation showed that DMGs were enriched in biological-process, cellular- component, molecular-function and other signaling pathways. A total of 10 identical genes related to growth and development were identified in GO and KEGG databases. Conclusion: The differences in methylation genes among the tested animals have been identified. A total of 10 DMGs associated with growth and development were identified between cloned and WT animals. The results indicate that the differential patterns of DNA methylation between the cloned and WT goats are probably caused by the SCNT. These novel observations will help us to further identify the unveiled mechanisms of somatic cell cloning technology, particularly in goats.