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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

Grafting of Beads into Developing Chicken Embryo Limbs to Identify Signal Transduction Pathways Affecting Gene Expression

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Published on: January 17, 2016

Activation of globin genes during chicken development

M Groudine, H Weintraub

|May 1, 1981

Summary

Chicken red blood cell precursors contain inactive globin genes. DNA replication, not cell division, triggers the transition to active gene expression during early embryonic development.

Area of Science:

Developmental Biology
Epigenetics
Molecular Biology

Background:

Hemoglobin (Hb) is crucial for oxygen transport, first appearing in chicken embryos around 35 hours of incubation.
Early embryonic cells, specifically red cell precursors, are key to understanding globin gene regulation.
Investigating the molecular mechanisms governing gene activation during development is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the activity state of globin genes in early chicken red cell precursors.
To elucidate the epigenetic modifications and chromatin structure associated with globin gene regulation.
To identify the cellular processes that trigger the transition from inactive to active globin gene expression.

Main Methods:

Runoff nuclear transcription assays to quantify globin gene transcription initiation.

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Methyl-sensitive restriction enzyme analysis to assess DNA methylation patterns.

DNAase I sensitivity assays and hypersensitive site mapping to evaluate chromatin accessibility.

Main Results:

Globin genes in presumptive red cell precursors (20-23 hr incubation) are transcriptionally inactive.
These inactive genes exhibit a methylated state and inaccessible chromatin structure.
The transition to an active chromatin state is tightly coupled with DNA replication, but not cytokinesis.

Conclusions:

Globin gene expression is silenced in early red cell precursors via epigenetic mechanisms.
DNA replication plays a critical role in initiating the chromatin remodeling necessary for globin gene activation.
This study provides insights into the coordinated regulation of gene expression and cell cycle progression during erythropoiesis.