ArticleGenetics, selection, evolution : GSE2018
Epigenetics and early domestication: differences in hypothalamic DNA methylation between red junglefowl divergently selected for high or low fear of humans.
Article in Genetics, selection, evolution : GSE, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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22 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gut microbiome community structure correlates with different behavioral phenotypes in the Belyaev Farm-Fox Experiment.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Selection for Tameness in Red Junglefowl Recapitulates Genetic Loci Associated With Domestication-Related Brain Composition.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- No evidence of evolutionary impact from size-selective harvesting on epigenetic and reproductive molecular markers in zebrafish (Danio rerio) gonads.Journal of fish biology · 2025Article
- Sex-Specific Methylomic and Transcriptomic Responses of the Avian Pineal Gland to Unpredictable Illumination Patterns.Journal of pineal research · 2025Article
- Functional Insights Into the Effect of Feralisation on the Gut Microbiota of Cats Worldwide.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- The regulation of methylation on the Z chromosome and the identification of multiple novel Male Hyper-Methylated regions in the chicken.PLoS genetics · 2024Article
- Article
- Natural Behaviour Is Not Enough: Farm Animal Welfare Needs Modern Answers to Tinbergen's Four Questions.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Practical application of a Bayesian network approach to poultry epigenetics and stress.BMC bioinformatics · 2022Article
- Article
- Examining the extent of environmental contributions toward DNA methylation and phenotypic variation.Animal frontiers : the review magazine of animal agriculture · 2021Article
- Chicken embryo as a model in epigenetic research.Poultry science · 2021Review
- Epigenetic variation in animal populations: Sources, extent, phenotypic implications, and ecological and evolutionary relevance.Journal of biosciences · 2021Review
- Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of abdominal adipose reveals DNA methylation pattern variations in broiler lines divergently selected for fatness.Journal of animal science · 2021Article
- Epigenetics of Animal Personality: DNA Methylation Cannot Explain the Heritability of Exploratory Behavior in a Songbird.Integrative and comparative biology · 2020Article
- The methylation landscape and its role in domestication and gene regulation in the chicken.Nature ecology & evolution · 2020Article
- Domestication process modifies digestion ability in larvae of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis), a freshwater Teleostei.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Human Social Evolution: Self-Domestication or Self-Control?Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- DNA methylation in canine brains is related to domestication and dog-breed formation.PloS one · 2020Article
- Putative Epigenetic Biomarkers of Stress in Red Blood Cells of Chickens Reared Across Different Biomes.Frontiers in genetics · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDomestication of animals leads to large phenotypic alterations within a short evolutionary time-period. Such alterations are caused by genomic variations, yet the prevalence of modified traits is higher than expected if they were caused only by classical genetics and mutations. Epigenetic mechanisms may also be important in driving domesticated phenotypes such as behavior traits. Gene expression can be modulated epigenetically by mechanisms such as DNA methylation, resulting in modifications that are not only variable and susceptible to environmental stimuli, but also sometimes transgenerationally stable. To study such mechanisms in early domestication, we used as model two selected lines of red junglefowl (ancestors of modern chickens) that were bred for either high or low fear of humans over five generations, and investigated differences in hypothalamic DNA methylation between the two populations.
resultsTwenty-two 1-kb windows were differentially methylated between the two selected lines at p < 0.05 after false discovery rate correction. The annotated functions of the genes within these windows indicated epigenetic regulation of metabolic and signaling pathways, which agrees with the changes in gene expression that were previously reported for the same tissue and animals.
conclusionsOur results show that selection for an important domestication-related behavioral trait such as tameness can cause divergent epigenetic patterns within only five generations, and that these changes could have an important role in chicken domestication.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.