Fig. 1: Characteristics of the Casein locus.

a Diagram presents gene structure within the mouse Casein locus and their preferential expression. b mRNA levels of genes in the Casein locus were measured by RNA-seq in lactating mammary glands (lactation day one, L1) and salivary glands (n = 4 and 3, respectively). Results are shown as the means ± SEM of independent biological replicates. p-values are from 2-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons test. **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001. c mRNA levels of Csn genes were measured by RNA-seq at virgin, day six of pregnancy (p6), lactation day one (L1) and L10 (virgin, p6, n = 3; L1, L10, n = 4). Results are shown as the means ± SEM of independent biological replicates. p-values are from 2-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. d Chromatin features of the Casein locus were identified by ChIP-seq and DNase-seq data in lactating mammary glands (lactation day one, L1) and salivary glands. The red shade indicates the super-enhancer. MG mammary gland, SG salivary gland. e ChIP-seq data for TFs binding and histone marks provided structural information of the Casein locus at day one of lactation (L1). Red, yellow and purple circles mark candidate enhancers, promoters, and CTCF binding sites, respectively. Super-enhancer is indicated by yellow, a rectangle and a red shade. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.