Identification of methylated sequences in genomic DNA of adult Drosophila melanogaster

• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2004.07.134
• Publication Date: 2004-08-10T19:55:27Z
• Authors: Adi Salzberg; Ohad Fisher; Rama Siman-Tov; Serge Ankri
• Keywords: 0303 health sciences; Base Sequence; Molecular Sequence Data; DNA; Sequence Analysis, DNA; DNA Methylation; Chromatography, Affinity; 03 medical and health sciences; Drosophila melanogaster; DNA Transposable Elements; Animals; Drosophila Proteins; CpG Islands; DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases

The genome of Drosophila melanogaster contains methylated cytosines. Recent studies indicate that DNA methylation in the fruit fly depends on one DNA methyltransferase, dDNMT2. No obvious phenotype is associated with the downregulation of this DNA methyltransferase. Thus, identifying the target sequences methylated by dDNMT2 may constitute the first step towards understanding the biological functions of this enzyme. We used anti-5-methylcytosine antibodies as affinity column to identify the methylated sequences in the genome of adult flies. Our analysis demonstrates that components of retrotransposons and repetitive DNA sequences are putative substrates for dDNMT2. The methylation status of DNA encoding Gag, a protein involved in delivering the transposition template to its DNA target, was confirmed by sodium bisulfite sequencing.