Tissue specific methylation of c-myc in adult chickens

Methylation of cytosine in DNA has long been correlated with modulation of specific gene expression in eukaryotes. Methylation of the c-myc locus was examined in six tissues from adult Leghorn chickens. The c-myc locus was found to be variably methylated in all examined tissues, except blood, where erythrocytic DNA showed no evidence of significant methylation of c-myc. This is contrasted with the observed sever methylation of the beta actin locus and the generally high methylation patterns found in avian erythrocytic DNA.