Identification of methylated sequences in genomic DNA of adult Drosophila melanogaster.
The genome of Drosophila melanogaster contains methylated cytosines. Recent studies indicate that DNA methylation in the fruit fly depends on one DNA methyltransferase, dDNMT2. No obvious phenotype is associated with the downregulation of this DNA methyltransferase. Thus, identifying the target sequences methylated by dDNMT2 may constitute the first step towards understanding the biological functions of this enzyme. We used anti-5-methylcytosine antibodies as affinity column to identify the methylated sequences in the genome of adult flies. Our analysis demonstrates that components of retrotransposons and repetitive DNA sequences are putative substrates for dDNMT2. The methylation status of DNA encoding Gag, a protein involved in delivering the transposition template to its DNA target, was confirmed by sodium bisulfite sequencing.
Department of Genetics and the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Technion, Israel.
Adi
A
Salzberg
Ohad
O
Fisher
Rama
R
Siman-Tov
Serge
S
Ankri
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D018899:CpG Islands; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004247:DNA; C491784:Mt2 protein, Drosophila; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases