Finer resolution analysis of transcriptional programming during the active migration of chicken primordial germ cells

Epigenetic programming of chicken germ cells: a comparative review

“…Using this model, gene expression profiles related to DNA methylation were tracked by monitoring GFP + germ cells during embryonic development. Although several genes showed differential expression between male and female PGCs, genes involved in de novo DNA methylation and maintenance of methylation, such as MAEL, BM1, HELLS, DNMT3A, DNMT3B , and DNMT1 , were enriched in both male and female PGCs from E2.5 to E8, indicating that expression of DNA methylation-related genes was increased to induce DNA re-methylation after reaching the genital ridge ( Rengaraj et al, 2022b ).…”

“…After reaching the gonads (E12.5), chromatin recompacts, and repressive H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 increase, while H3K9ac and H2A/H4R3me2 are not re-established after programming ( Hajkova et al, 2008 ; Kagiwada et al, 2013 ). In chickens, histone H3-R2/H4-R3/H3-K36 demethylation genes, such as JMJD6 and KDM8, are enriched in migrating PGCs but decrease over time, while histone H3-K9/H3-K4/H3-K37/H4-K20/H3-R17 methylation genes, such as SETDB1, KMT2C, ARID4B, and SUV39H2, are enriched over time ( Rengaraj et al, 2022b ), suggesting differential histone modification profiles of chicken migrating PGCs compared to mammalian PGCs for their proper development.…”

Fate Decisions of Chicken Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs): Development, Integrity, Sex Determination, and Self-Renewal Mechanisms

“…For example, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) system [ 11 ] has been used not only to produce genome-edited chickens [ 12 ], but also to conduct functional analysis of PGC-intrinsic factors via application of this system to cultured PGCs [ 13 ]. Alternatively, RNA-seq technology enables us to predict the fate decision of chicken PGCs even at a single-cell resolution level [ 14 , 15 ]. Here, we review the fate decisions of avian PGCs, mainly focusing on chicken PGCs, with cutting-edge knowledge.…”