title: Novel methylation at GpC dinucleotide in the fish Sparus aurata genome.
abstract: To date, vertebrate DNA has been found methylated at the 5' position of cytosine exclusively in dinucleotide CpG or CpNpG stretches. On the the other hand, we determined that cytosine was methylated unusually in dinucleotide GpC at 5'-GGCC-3' sequences in the teleost Sparus aurata EcoRI satellite DNA family. This finding is the first example of methylated GpC sequences in the eukaryotic genomes. At this regard, we have examined the relative methylation levels at this site of the highly repetitive EcoRI satellite DNA family from Sparus aurata different tissues. The EcoRI repeat was remarkably more methylated in male germ cells but hypomethylated in female germ cells at the Hae III restriction site (GpC). The novel modification and the differential methylation pattern suggest that EcoRI satellite could have a structural and/or functional role at the centromeres of Sparus aurata.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, II University of Naples, Italy. giovanni.pontecorvo@unina2.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pontecorvo
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Felice
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carfagna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002503:Centromere; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018899:CpG Islands; D003596:Cytosine / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation; D016678:Genome; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D021541:Sea Bream / Q000235:genetics*; D013447:Sulfites / Q000494:pharmacology; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D013447:Sulfites; D003596:Cytosine; D004247:DNA