Germ cell specific high level of H3K9me3 in chicken PGCs: distribution and role in gene expression control [ChIP-Seq]

Chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs) have an epigenetic signature which differs from the one that mammalian PGCs acquire with their epigenome reprogramming during early embryonic development. In particular, chicken PGCs display a high global amount of histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) compared to somatic cell types. We performed the genome-wide profiling of H3K9me3 and the transcriptome analysis on chicken PGCs compared to embryonic stem cells (ESCs) as a closely related, non germinal cell type. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) for H3K9me3 in chicken PGCs and ESCs.