Project description:The great tit is a widely studied passerine bird species in ecology that, in the past decades, has provided important insights into speciation, phenology, behavior and microevolution. After completion of the great tit genome sequence, a customized high density 650k SNP array was developed enabling more detailed genomic studies in this species.
Project description:Recent studies highlighted fecal microRNAs as promising non-invasive biomarkers for investigating the effects of environmental factors on the gut, while also strengthening the association between fecal microRNAs and the gut microbiota. In this study, we explored the fecal miRNome and gut microbiome of 54 young, healthy individuals living in a high-pollution (Land of Fires, LF) or a low-pollution area (Valley of Sele) in Italy’s Campania region.
Project description:Rationale: DNA methylation plays a critical role in asthma development, but differences in DNA methylation associated with asthma severity, especially among adults, are less well-defined. Changes in DNA methylation are influenced by exposure to air pollution, which is a risk factor for asthma exacerbation and severity. Here, we examined how DNA methylomic patterns in adult asthmatics differ by asthma severity and exposure to different components of air pollution. Methods: Peripheral blood CD3+ T cells from adult asthmatics in Beijing, China were serially collected from 37 patients (130 samples total) and analyzed for global DNA methylation using the Illumina MethylationEPIC Array. Measurements and Main Results: Significant differences in DNA methylation were noted among subjects with different degrees of asthma severity, as measured by fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, forced expiratory volume, and asthma control test scores. Differences in DNA methylation were annotated to genes that were enriched in pathways related to asthma or T cell function, and included gene ontology categories related to cellular adhesion, developmental pathways, and calcium signaling. Notable genes that were differentially methylated based on asthma severity included RUNX3, several members of the HLA family, PDGFRA, CDH1, CAV1, and NOTCH4. Differences in DNA methylation also varied by exposure to ambient air pollution, with different components of pollution effecting methylation of different groups of genes. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate how adult asthmatics possess widespread differences in the DNA methylation that associated with varying asthma severity and how air pollution might contribute to more severe asthma via changes in DNA methylation.
2024-07-31 | GSE226257 | GEO
Project description:Epigenetics and the city: non-parallel DNA methylation modifications across pairs of urban-rural Great tit populations.
| PRJNA786007 | ENA
Project description:Great tit - faecal, egg and embryo microbiota
Project description:Exposure to environmental stressors is known to increase disease susceptibility in unexposed descendants in the absence of detectable genetic mutations. The mechanisms mediating environmentally-induced transgenerational disease susceptibility are poorly understood. We showed that great-great-grandsons of female mice exposed to tributyltin (TBT) throughout pregnancy and lactation were predisposed to obesity due to altered chromatin organization that subsequently biased DNA methylation and gene expression. Here we analyzed DNA methylomes and transcriptomes from tissues of animals ancestrally exposed to TBT spanning generations, sexes, ontogeny, and cell differentiation state. We found that TBT elicited concerted alterations in the expression of “chromatin organization” genes and inferred that TBT-disrupted chromatin organization might be able to self-reconstruct transgenerationally. We also found that the location of “chromatin organization” and “metabolic” genes is biased similarly in mouse and human genomes, suggesting that exposure to environmental stressors in different species could elicit similar phenotypic effects via self-reconstruction of disrupted chromatin organization.