Annelid methylomes reveal ancestral developmental and aging-associated epigenetic erosion across Bilateria.

ABSTRACT:

Background

DNA methylation in the form of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) is the most abundant base modification in animals. However, 5mC levels vary widely across taxa. While vertebrate genomes are hypermethylated, in most invertebrates, 5mC concentrates on constantly and highly transcribed genes (gene body methylation; GbM) and, in some species, on transposable elements (TEs), a pattern known as "mosaic". Yet, the role and developmental dynamics of 5mC and how these explain interspecies differences in DNA methylation patterns remain poorly understood, especially in Spiralia, a large clade of invertebrates comprising nearly half of the animal phyla.

Results

Here, we generate base-resolution methylomes for three species with distinct genomic features and phylogenetic positions in Ann

SUBMITTER: Guynes K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11292947 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature