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Methylation Status of the Follistatin Gene at Different Development Stages of Japanese Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

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Abstract

Follistatin (Fst) is a hyperplasia factor that plays a crucial role in muscle development. DNA methylation, a significant process, regulates gene expression. The aim of our study is to examine the DNA methylation and expression patterns of Fst gene at five different development stages of Japanese flounder (stage A, 7 dph; stage B, 90 dph; stage C, about 180 dph; stage D, about 24 months; stage E, about 36 months). The muscle tissue of Japanese flounder was obtained at different development stages in this experiment. DNA methylation levels in the promoter and exon 2 of Fst were determined by bisulfite sequencing, and the relative expression of the Fst gene at the five stages was measured by quantitative PCR. The results showed that the lowest methylation level was at stage A and the highest methylation level was at stage B. Moreover, the highest expression level of the Fst gene was observed at stage A. The mRNA abundance was negatively correlated with DNA methylation level. Three CpG islands in the promoter region and three CpG islands in exon 2 of Fst were found in the binding sequence of the putative transcription factor. These results offered a theoretical basis for the mechanism of Fst gene regulation to muscle development at different development stages.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. ZR2014CM 018), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31672642) and the AoShan Talents Program Supported by Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (No. 2017ASTCP-ES06). It is appreciated that the comments from editors and reviewers have greatly improved our manuscript.

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  1. The Key Laboratory of Mariculture of Ministry of Education, Fishery College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Yajuan Huang, Nan Hu, Yufeng Si, Siping Li, Shuxian Wu, Meizhao Zhang, Haishen Wen, Jifang Li, Yun Li & Feng He

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  1. Yajuan Huang
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  2. Nan Hu
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Correspondence to Feng He.

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Huang, Y., Hu, N., Si, Y. et al. Methylation Status of the Follistatin Gene at Different Development Stages of Japanese Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). J. Ocean Univ. China 17, 1243–1252 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-018-3712-6

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