Cross-species analysis of genic GC3 content and DNA methylation patterns.

ABSTRACT: The GC content in the third codon position (GC(3)) exhibits a unimodal distribution in many plant and animal genomes. Interestingly, grasses and homeotherm vertebrates exhibit a unique bimodal distribution. High GC(3) was previously found to be associated with variable expression, higher frequency of upstream TATA boxes, and an increase of GC(3) from 5' to 3'. Moreover, GC(3)-rich genes are predominant in certain gene classes and are enriched in CpG dinucleotides that are potential targets for methylation. Based on the GC(3) bimodal distribution we hypothesize that GC(3) has a regulatory role involving methylation and gene expression. To test that hypothesis, we selected diverse taxa (rice, thale cress, bee, and human) that varied in the modality of their GC(3) distribution and tested the

SUBMITTER: Tatarinova T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3762193 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature