Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33453134›Full record

ArticleMolecular ecology2021

Rapid changes in DNA methylation associated with the initiation of reproduction in a small songbird.

Melanie Lindner, Veronika N Laine, Irene Verhagen, Heidi M Viitaniemi, Marcel E Visser, Kees van Oers, Arild Husby

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular ecology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed
5.4field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Exposure to Dim Light at Night Impairs Photoperiodic and Metabolic Gene Expression in Syrian Hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Dim light at night alters photoperiodic perception in male Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology · 2025
    Article
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  7. Photoperiod-driven testicular DNA methylation in gonadotropin and sex steroid receptor promoters in Siberian hamsters.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Epigenetics and seasonal timing in animals: a concise review.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2024
    Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. DNA methylation in poultry: a review.Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 2023
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.

Melanie LindnerDepartment of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-2931-265X
Veronika N LaineDepartment of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4516-7002
Irene VerhagenDepartment of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-5588-1333
Heidi M ViitaniemiOrganismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme (OEB), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-3308-6141
Marcel E VisserDepartment of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1456-1939
Kees van OersDepartment of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-6984-906X
Arild HusbyOrganismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme (OEB), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0003-1911-8351
Netherlands Institute of Ecology · NLUniversity of Groningen · NLUniversity of Helsinki · FIUppsala University · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Species with a circannual life cycle need to match the timing of their life history events to the environment to maximize fitness. However, our understanding of how circannual traits such as timing of reproduction are regulated on a molecular level remains limited. Recent studies have implicated that epigenetic mechanisms can be an important part in the processes that regulate circannual traits. Here, we explore the role of DNA methylation in mediating reproductive timing in a seasonally breeding bird species, the great tit (Parus major), using genome-wide DNA methylation data from individual females that were blood sampled repeatedly throughout the breeding season. We demonstrate rapid and directional changes in DNA methylation within the promoter region of several genes, including a key transcription factor (NR5A1) known from earlier studies to be involved in the initiation of timing of reproduction. Interestingly, the observed changes in DNA methylation at NR5A1 identified here are in line with earlier gene expression studies of reproduction in chicken, indicating that the observed shifts in DNA methylation at this gene can have a regulatory role. Our findings provide an important step towards elucidating the genomic mechanism that mediates seasonal timing of a key life history traits and provide support for the idea that epigenetic mechanisms may play an important role in circannual traits.

Indexed as

PasseriformesSongbirdsAnimalsDNA MethylationEpigenesis, GeneticFemaleReproductionSeasonsavian reproductive timingDNA methylationecological epigeneticslife history traitsParus major

Identifiers

PMID33453134
PMCPMC8359384
OpenAlexW3124822153

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Registered trials

None linked

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.