Atypical epigenetic mark in an atypical location: cytosine methylation at asymmetric (CNN) sites within the body of a non-repetitive tomato gene.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Eukaryotic DNA methylation is one of the most studied epigenetic processes, as it results in a direct and heritable covalent modification triggered by external stimuli. In contrast to mammals, plant DNA methylation, which is stimulated by external cues exemplified by various abiotic types of stress, is often found not only at CG sites but also at CNG (N denoting A, C or T) and CNN (asymmetric) sites. A genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in Arabidopsis has shown that CNN methylation is preferentially concentrated in transposon genes and non-coding repetitive elements. We are particularly interested in investigating the epigenetics of plant species with larger and more complex genomes than Arabidopsis, particularly with regards to the associated alterations elicited b

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3117769 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature