From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-07-05 19:03:56 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Problems with the kits
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
There can also be spontaneous mutations in lines so lines which have seemed "clean" can
begin having problems not only due to hidden traits or different interactive genetic
combinations, but also new changes can arise. They are pretty common in all mammals,
actually, but most that survive are benign.
There are also environmental interactions that alter genetic expression in various ways.
The one people know well about is size limitation from dietary restriction, but there are
plenty more and different ways to get them. A recent and very exciting subset of genetics
is the study of epigenetic effects. One example involves agouti mice. Normally, agouti
mice are blond, heavy (heavy in both frame and a tendency to obesity), and prone to the
trifecta of diabetes, heart disease, and high cholesterol (if I correctly recall the combo).
When the MOTHERS of these mice are fed a specific component of soy during pregnancy
the offspring (who still do have the agouti genetics) instead wind up darker, more gracile,
and not prone to those medical conditions, The diet has an effect "over" genetics, hence
"epi".
I think this is a later journal article but may be the same one I read. BTW, more recent
work indicates that beginning large amounts of some phytoestrogens at a later age may
be counterproductive and even increase certain health risks; it is best begun early as part
of the diet, preferably as a fetus, it appears.
QUOTE ABSTRACT from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Apr;114(4):567-72. Links
Maternal genistein alters coat color and protects Avy mouse offspring from obesity by
modifying the fetal epigenome.
Dolinoy DC, Weidman JR, Waterland RA, Jirtle RL.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710,
USA.
Genistein, the major phytoestrogen in soy, is linked to diminished female reproductive
performance and to cancer chemoprevention and decreased adipose deposition. Dietary
genistein may also play a role in the decreased incidence of cancer in Asians compared
with Westerners, as well as increased cancer incidence in Asians immigrating to the United
States. Here, we report that maternal dietary genistein supplementation of mice during
gestation, at levels comparable with humans consuming high-soy diets, shifted the coat
color of heterozygous viable yellow agouti (A(vy/a) offspring toward pseudoagouti. This
marked phenotypic change was significantly associated with increased methylation of six
cytosine-guanine sites in a retrotransposon upstream of the transcription start site of the
Agouti gene. The extent of this DNA methylation was similar in endodermal, mesodermal,
and ectodermal tissues, indicating that genistein acts during early embryonic
development. Moreover, this genistein-induced hypermethylation persisted into
adulthood, decreasing ectopic Agouti expression and protecting offspring from obesity.
Thus, we provide the first evidence that in utero dietary genistein affects gene expression
and alters susceptibility to obesity in adulthood by permanently altering the epigenome.
PMID: 16581547 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
END QUOTE
I think the one I read differed but may have been a preliminary study report on this or
another study.
The full article may be found at
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/8700/8700.html
and
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?
tool=pubmed&pubmedid=16581547
See also:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1440819
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