78 - Understanding the Gene by Environment Effects Between Cilia Mutation and Folic Acid in Craniofacial Development

Poster Board Number: 78
There are separate poster presentation times for odd and even posters.
Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Abstract Body : Alteration of primary cilia has been linked to both craniofacial and neural tube defects. Folic acid intake is an environmental factor that varies in humans and has been linked to the etiology of birth defects – most notably neural tube defects. Folic acid influences DNA methylation, producing poorly understood effects on development. While supplementation has been effective at reducing neural tube defects, it is currently not understood how folic acid ameliorates or exacerbates a genetic mutation to alter the expression of a birth defect, not is it understood how long-term folic acid exposure affects development. Primary cilia are a central nexus of many signaling pathways including Shh and Wnt. Here, we examine the interaction between multigenerational exposure to folic acid and loss of two genes involved in the development of the primary cilia, B9d1 and Ift88. We show that multigenerational folic acid and cilia mutation interact to affect facial shape both during development and, can affect shape in adult animals. We further identify how epigenetic changes relate to alteration of morphology associated with both genetic change and also epigenetic change.