PRJNA680701
Evolutionary patterns of DNA methylation in insects
DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that is evolutionary conserved across eukaryotes. Recent comparative studies in different eukaryotic groups have shown that the patterns of DNA methylation can substantially vary across taxa. However, the mechanisms that underlie this variability are poorly understood. To address this we analyzed a dataset comprised of 46 single-base resolution methylomes from species located at key positions on the insect phylogenetic tree. We conjectured that insects, due to preexisting knowledge on their phylogenetic relationships and their inferred diversity in DNA methylation patterns, would constitute a great model group for studying the mechanisms responsible for the evolutionary transitions between DNA methylation patterns. For example, studies have shown that holometabolous insects are characterized by sparse methylation of genes, while in many species DNA methylation is even extremely reduced or lost. Computational inferences combined with limited experimental evidence suggest that hemimetabolous insects possess substantially higher levels of DNA methylation that is targeted to the entirety of gene bodies. Thus, we aim to: 1) Characterize DNA methylation patterns across insects. 2) Reconstruct the evolutionary history of DNA methylation patterns in insects. 3) Identify mechanisms that underlie the transitions between DNA methylation patterns.