Assessment of DNA methylation in porcine immune cells reveals novel regulatory elements associated with cell-specific gene expression and immune capacity traits

BACKGROUND: Genetics studies in the porcine immune system have enhanced selection practices for disease resistance phenotypes and increased the efficacy of porcine models in biomedical research; however limited functional annotation of the porcine immunome has hindered progress on both fronts. Among epigenetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression, DNA methylation is the most ubiquitous modification made to the DNA molecule and influences transcription factor binding as well as gene and phenotype expression. Human and mouse DNA methylation studies have improved mapping of regulatory elements in these species, but comparable studies in the pig have been limited in scope. RESULTS: We performed whole-genome bisulfite sequencing to assess DNA methylation patterns in nine pig immune cell populations: CD21(+) and CD21(−) B cells, four T cell fractions (CD4(+), CD8(+), CD8(+)CD4(+), and SWC6γδ(+)), natural killer and myeloid cells, and neutrophils. We identified 54,391 cell differentially methylated regions (cDMRs), and clustering by cDMR methylation rate grouped samples by cell lineage. 32,737 cDMRs were classified as cell lowly methylated regions (cLMRs) in at least one cell type, and cLMRs were broadly enriched in genes and regions of intermediate CpG density. We observed strong correlations between differential methylation and expression across immune cell populations, with cell-specific low methylation disproportionately impacting genes exhibiting enriched gene expression in the same cell type. Motif analysis of cLMRs revealed cell type-specific enrichment of transcription factor binding motifs, indicating that cell-specific methylation patterns may influence accessibility by trans-acting factors. Lastly, cDMRs were enriched for immune capacity GWAS SNPs, and many such overlaps occurred within genes known to influence immune cell development and function (CD8B, NDRG1). CONCLUSION: Our DNA methylation data improve functional annotation of the porcine genome through characterization of epigenomic regulatory patterns that contribute to immune cell identity and function, and increase the potential for identifying mechanistic links between genotype and phenotype. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-022-08773-5.