RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 On the Origin and Evolutionary Consequences of Gene Body DNA Methylation
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 045542
DO 10.1101/045542
A1 Adam J. Bewick
A1 Lexiang Ji
A1 Chad E. Niederhuth
A1 Eva-Maria Willing
A1 Brigitte T. Hofmeister
A1 Xiuling Shi
A1 Li Wang
A1 Zefu Lu
A1 Nicholas A. Rohr
A1 Benjamin Hartwig
A1 Christiane Kiefer
A1 Roger B. Deal
A1 Jeremy Schmutz
A1 Jane Grimwood
A1 Hume Stroud
A1 Steven E. Jacobsen
A1 Korbinian Schneeberger
A1 Xiaoyu Zhang
A1 Robert J. Schmitz
YR 2016
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/06/09/045542.abstract
AB In plants, CG DNA methylation is prevalent in the transcribed regions of many constitutively expressed genes (“gene body methylation; gbM”), but the origin and function of gbM remain unknown. Here we report the discovery that Eutrema salsugineum has lost gbM from its genome, the first known instance for an angiosperm. Of all known DNA methyltransferases, only CHROMOMETHYLASE 3 (CMT3) is missing from E. salsugineum. Identification of an additional angiosperm, Conringia planisiliqua, which independently lost CMT3 and gbM supports that CMT3 is required for the establishment of gbM. Detailed analyses of gene expression, the histone variant H2A.Z and various histone modifications in E. salsugineum and in Arabidopsis thaliana epiRILs found no evidence in support of any role for gbM in regulating transcription or affecting the composition and modifications of chromatin over evolutionary time scales.