PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Satoshi Hiraoka
AU  - Tomomi Sumida
AU  - Miho Hirai
AU  - Atsushi Toyoda
AU  - Shinsuke Kawagucci
AU  - Taichi Yokokawa
AU  - Takuro Nunoura
TI  - Diverse DNA modification in marine prokaryotic and viral communities
AID  - 10.1101/2021.05.08.442635
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.05.08.442635
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/05/08/2021.05.08.442635.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/05/08/2021.05.08.442635.full
AB  - Chemical modifications of DNA, including methylation, play an important role in prokaryotes and viruses. However, our knowledge of the modification systems in environmental microbial communities, typically dominated by members not yet cultured, is limited. Here, we conducted ‘metaepigenomic’ analyses by single-molecule real-time sequencing of marine microbial communities. In total, 233 and 163 metagenomic assembly genomes (MAGs) were constructed from diverse prokaryotes and viruses, respectively, and 220 modified motifs and 276 DNA methyltransferases (MTases) were identified. Most of the MTases were not associated with the defense mechanism. The MTase-motif correspondence found in the MAGs revealed 10 novel pairs, and experimentally confirmed the catalytic specificities of the MTases. We revealed novel alternative motifs in the methylation system that are highly conserved in Alphaproteobacteria, illuminating the co-evolutionary history of the methylation system and host genome. Our findings highlight diverse unexplored DNA modifications that potentially affect the ecology and evolution of prokaryotes and viruses.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.