About this Research Topic
For domesticated animals, disease resistance, reproductive performance, lactation performance, meat production, egg production, down/cashmere production, meat quality, egg quality, etc. are economically important traits that affect the economic performance of the livestock farming industry and the quality of livestock products consumed by consumers. Epigenetic modifications play an important role in influencing the performance of these traits. Epigenetics focuses on DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, and mechanisms of gene regulation beyond DNA sequences such as non-coding RNAs. Epigenetic mechanisms are involved in numerous biological processes such as embryonic development, tissue differentiation and tumorigenesis. Epigenetic modification is an important mechanism linking environmental stress and gene expression, where epigenetic information is stored in the genome in the form of various chromatin modifications and high-level structures. There are various factors that influence epigenetic modifications, such as environmental factors, nutrition and feeding practices. With the development of biotechnology, the development of experimental and analytical methods in epigenetic modifications has become particularly important.
This Research Topic focuses on epigenetics modifications that contribute to economic traits in domestic animals. This Topic helps to explain differences in animal phenotypes under different nutritional conditions, feeding environments and husbandry practices, so as to explain the influence of environmental factors on the performance of economic traits. This Topic tries to uncover the epigenome of economical traits in livestock and poultry, and elucidate DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, non-coding RNAs, and m6A methylation in relation to cell differentiation, tissue, organ and embryo development. With the development of new technologies such as single-cell sequencing, multiple levels of epigenetic heterogeneity can be mapped in a variety of cells, tissues, and organs, which can help to further decode cellular heterogeneity at the epigenetic level, as well as decipher the fine regulation of epigenetics at the molecular level. We hope that by this Topic the epigenetic modification loci identified, which are important for economic traits, can be used for selection and improvement of livestock breeds to enhance their production performance.
This Research Topic welcomes the submission of Original Research and Review manuscripts focused on, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Epigenetics modifications closely related to important economic traits such as disease resistance, reproduction, meat quality, and so on.
• Epigenetic elements related to embryo, tissue, and organ development.
• Expression or regulatory mechanisms at the single-cell level;
• Development of bioinformatics pipelines and statistical methods for analyzing epigenome data.
• Interplay among genetic, nutritional or environmental, and epigenetic factors.
• Molecular function of epigenetics elements that contribute to economic traits in domestic animals.
• Epigenetic-based population genetics or genome selection.
Please note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted.
This Research Topic focuses on epigenetics modifications that contribute to economic traits in domestic animals. This Topic helps to explain differences in animal phenotypes under different nutritional conditions, feeding environments and husbandry practices, so as to explain the influence of environmental factors on the performance of economic traits. This Topic tries to uncover the epigenome of economical traits in livestock and poultry, and elucidate DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, non-coding RNAs, and m6A methylation in relation to cell differentiation, tissue, organ and embryo development. With the development of new technologies such as single-cell sequencing, multiple levels of epigenetic heterogeneity can be mapped in a variety of cells, tissues, and organs, which can help to further decode cellular heterogeneity at the epigenetic level, as well as decipher the fine regulation of epigenetics at the molecular level. We hope that by this Topic the epigenetic modification loci identified, which are important for economic traits, can be used for selection and improvement of livestock breeds to enhance their production performance.
This Research Topic welcomes the submission of Original Research and Review manuscripts focused on, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Epigenetics modifications closely related to important economic traits such as disease resistance, reproduction, meat quality, and so on.
• Epigenetic elements related to embryo, tissue, and organ development.
• Expression or regulatory mechanisms at the single-cell level;
• Development of bioinformatics pipelines and statistical methods for analyzing epigenome data.
• Interplay among genetic, nutritional or environmental, and epigenetic factors.
• Molecular function of epigenetics elements that contribute to economic traits in domestic animals.
• Epigenetic-based population genetics or genome selection.
Please note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted.
Keywords: Domestic animals, epigenomics, economic traits, environmental factor
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
