ABSTRACT
Contents 1.1 Nutrition-epigenetics-phenotype relationship ..................................... 1 1.2 The origin of epigenetics.......................................................................... 2 1.3 Relationship between genetics and epigenetics ................................... 2 1.4 Different types of epigenetic phenomena ............................................. 3 1.5 Nutrients, bioactive food components, and epigenetics ..................... 4 References ............................................................................................................ 5
1.1 Nutrition-epigenetics-phenotype relationship A recent study showed that honeybees grow to be either queens or workers depending on whether they are fed royal jelly or beebread.1 Despite being genetically identical at the larvae level, honeybees fed pure royal jelly are markedly different from worker honeybees. The different honeybee phenotype occurs through epigenetic changes in DNA methylation patterns induced by the type of honey they are fed with, therefore illustrating a strong link between diet-induced epigenetic changes that lead to different development from the same genetic background.1
