title: Comparative epigenomics: a powerful tool to understand the evolution of DNA methylation.
abstract: Understanding how developmental and functional complexity of organisms evolves is a longstanding challenge in biology. Genetic mutation has long been thought to be the cause of biological complexity. However, increasing evidence indicates that epigenetic variation provides a parallel path for the evolution of biological complexity. Cytosine DNA methylation, the addition of a chemical mark on DNA, is a conserved and essential gene regulatory mechanism. Recent studies have greatly advanced our understanding of the DNA methylation landscapes and key regulatory components across many species. In this review, I summarize recent advances in understanding DNA methylation from an evolutionary perspective. Using comparative approaches, I highlight the conservation and divergence of DNA methylation patterns and regulatory machinery in plants and other eukaryotic organisms.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics & Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, USA.
authors.forename: Xuehua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D057890:Epigenomics; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000201:enzymology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008780:Methyltransferases
keywords: DNA methylation; comparative epigenome; evolution; gene regulation; methyltransferase