Single-cell DNA methylation analysis of epimutations in mouse liver cells.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: We report a single-cell DNA methylation analysis using BS-Seq, which reveals enrichment of demethylating epimutations in gene bodies and repeat regions. Comparison of single cells vs. a reference cell pool from Mouse liver tissue using an Illumina HiSeq machine.
Project description:Experiment was performed to assess the effect of H1 histones knock-out on DNA methylation under control conditions and a role of H1.3 in maintaining stress-induced menthylation response.
Project description:Dnmt1 epigenetically propagates symmetrical CG methylation in many eukaryotes. Their genomes are typically depleted of CG dinucleotides because of imperfect repair of deaminated methylcytosines. Here, we extensively survey diverse species lacking Dnmt1 and show that, surprisingly, symmetrical CG methylation is nonetheless frequently present and catalyzed by a different DNA methyltransferase family, Dnmt5. Numerous Dnmt5-containing organisms that diverged more than a billion years ago exhibit clustered methylation, specifically in nucleosome linkers. Clustered methylation occurs at unprecedented densities and directly disfavors nucleosomes, contributing to nucleosome positioning between clusters. Dense methylation is enabled by a regime of genomic sequence evolution that enriches CG dinucleotides and drives the highest CG frequencies known. Species with linker methylation have small, transcriptionally active nuclei that approach the physical limits of chromatin compaction. These features constitute a previously unappreciated genome architecture, in which dense methylation influences nucleosome positions, likely facilitating nuclear processes under extreme spatial constraints. DNA methylation, RNA and nucleosome sequencing data for diverse eukaryotes
Project description:Methylation is a repressive modification of DNA prevalent throughout mammalian genomes yet mostly absent at CG rich stretches referred to as CGI. Here we identify their building principles by parallel genomic targeting of sequence libraries. Iterative insertions generated over 3,000 variants of genome-derived and artificial sequences at the same genomic site. Single molecule profiling of the methylation status of this collection allowed modeling the contribution of CG content and DNA binding factors towards the unmethylated state. It made the surprising prediction that the majority of CGs within endogenous islands are susceptible to methylation changes modulated by the presence of transcription factors, which is indeed confirmed by genome-wide methylation dynamics during multiple cellular differentiations. Our model further predicts blocks of constitutively unmethylated CGs independent from TF binding, which have a median size of ~300bp but are only present in half of all islands. Their constitutively unmethylated state is a hallmark of untransformed cells but their increased methylation is a specific and predictive feature of cancer. This study quantifies the two principal mechanisms governing methylation patterns in mammalian genomes. It provides a framework to interpret methylation data across normal and cancer samples and refines the concept of CpG islands. Methylation is a repressive modification of DNA prevalent throughout mammalian genomes yet mostly absent at CG rich stretches referred to as CGI. Here we identify their building principles by parallel genomic targeting of sequence libraries. Iterative insertions generated over 3,000 variants of genome-derived and artificial sequences at the same genomic site. Single molecule profiling of the methylation status of this collection allowed modeling the contribution of CG content and DNA binding factors towards the unmethylated state. It made the surprising prediction that the majority of CGs within endogenous islands are susceptible to methylation changes modulated by the presence of transcription factors, which is indeed confirmed by genome-wide methylation dynamics during multiple cellular differentiations. Our model further predicts blocks of constitutively unmethylated CGs independent from TF binding, which have a median size of ~300bp but are only present in half of all islands. Their constitutively unmethylated state is a hallmark of untransformed cells but their increased methylation is a specific and predictive feature of cancer. This study quantifies the two principal mechanisms governing methylation patterns in mammalian genomes. It provides a framework to interpret methylation data across normal and cancer samples and refines the concept of CpG islands. Libraries of DNA sequences were constructed either by mouse genome (129S6) or E.coli genome (NC_010473.1) subrepresentation or custom synthesis. DNA fragments were inserted into the genome of mouse embryonic stem cells by recombination mediated casette exchange (RMCE) at the B-globin locus. Methylation status of the inserted DNA sequences was profiled by bisulfite sequencing using a pair of universal primers flanking the fragments.
Project description:DNA methylation is a conserved epigenetic gene regulation mechanism. DOMAINS REARRANGED METHYLTRANSFERASE (DRM) is a key de novo methyltransferase in plants, but how DRM acts mechanistically is poorly understood. Here, we report the crystal structure of the methyltransferase domain of tobacco DRM (NtDRM) and reveal a molecular basis for its rearranged structure. NtDRM forms a functional homo-dimer critical for catalytic activity. We also show that Arabidopsis DRM2 exists in complex with the siRNA effector ARGONAUTE4 (AGO4) and preferentially methylates one DNA strand, likely the strand acting as the template for non-coding Pol V RNA transcripts. This strand-biased DNA methylation is also positively correlated with strand-biased siRNA accumulation. These data suggest a model in which DRM2 is guided to target loci by AGO4-siRNA and involves base-pairing of associated siRNAs with nascent RNA transcripts. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing was done for a wildtype line (ecotype Col) as well as various transgenic lines in a drm2 mutant background (ecotype Col). Each transgenic line expressed a version of the DRM2 protein that was either wildtype or carried induced mutations in order to test the function of various domains in the DRM2 protein. Two sets of whole-genome bisulfite were performed (130615 or 131216) and comparisons were mainly done within sets although comparisons can also be done between sets. The drm2 mutant methylome was also analyzed in this study using a previously published whole-genome bisulfite library (GSE39901).
Project description:Cytosine methylation is involved in various biological processes such as silencing of transposable elements (TEs) and imprinting. Multiple pathways regulate DNA methylation in a sequence specific manner. What factors regulate DNA methylation at a given site in the genome largely remains elusive. Here by generating single nucleotide resolution maps of DNA methylation we have surveyed the effect of mutations in a comprehensive list of genes involved in gene silencing in Arabidopsis. We find that DNA methylation is site-specifically regulated by different factors. Furthermore, we have identified novel regulators of DNA methylation. We have generated a comprehensive resource to further understanding the control of DNA methylation patterning. Whole genome methylation maps of 86 silencing mutants involved in gene silencing and chromatin modifications were generated using BS-seq (Cokus et al., Nature 2008 ).
Project description:We performed WGBS analyses on 6 human fetal samples at 53-137 days of development, 4 female and 2 male. We show that methylation reprogramming in the human germline is global yet incomplete with exons, 3’UTRs and human-specific transposons remaining methylated. Whole Genome Bisulfite-Seq of cKIT+ cells analyzed from 4 biological samples for fetal ovaries from 57-113 days of development and 2 samples for fetal testes at 59 and 137 days of development.
Project description:We report that in vitro derived PGCs undergo genome-wide DNA demethylation and that this demethylation does not require Tet1/Tet2 Examination of methylation in ESCs, iPGCs, and Tet2-/- iPGCs depleted of Tet1 by shRNA lentiviruses
Project description:In plants, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription of inverted DNA repeats produces hairpin RNAs that are processed by several DICER-LIKE enzymes into siRNAs that are 21-24-nt in length. When targeted to transcriptional regulatory regions, the 24-nt size class can induce RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) and transcriptional gene silencing (TGS). In a forward genetic screen to identify mutants defective in RdDM of a target enhancer leading to TGS of a downstream GFP reporter gene in Arabidopsis thaliana, we recovered a structurally mutated silencer locus, named SM-NM-^T35S, in which the 35S promoter driving transcription of an inverted repeat of target enhancer sequences had been specifically deleted. Although Pol II-dependent, hairpin-derived 21-24-nt siRNAs were no longer generated at the newly created SM-NM-^T35S locus, the GFP reporter gene was nevertheless still partially silenced. Silencing was associated with methylation in a short tandem repeat in the upstream target enhancer and with low levels of 24-nt tandem repeat siRNAs. Introducing an nrpd1 mutation into the SM-NM-^T35S line fully released GFP silencing and eliminated both the tandem repeat methylation and associated 24-nt siRNAs, demonstrating their dependence on Pol IV. Deletion of the 35S promoter thus revealed a Pol IV-dependent pathway of 24-nt siRNA biogenesis that was previously inhibited or masked by the Pol II-dependent pathway in wild-type plants. Both Pol II- and Pol IV-dependent siRNAs accrued predominantly from cytosine (C)-containing segments of the tandem repeat monomer, suggesting that the local base composition influenced siRNA accumulation. Preferential accumulation of siRNAs at C-containing sequences was also observed at an endogenous tandem repeat comprising discrete C-rich and AT-rich sections. Our studies illuminate the potential complexity of siRNA generation at repeat-containing loci and show that Pol IV can act in siRNA biogenesis in the absence of a conventional Pol II promoter. Examination of whole-genome DNA methylation status in transgenic T+S Arabidopsis plant
Project description:Analysis of DNA methylation in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis/preoptic area and striatum in response to perinatal testosterone exposure. The hypothesis tested was that treatment of females with testosterone on the day of birth would lead to masculinization of the methylome in adulthood. There were three experimental groups: males, females, and females treated with T on the day of birth. The methylation patterns in each group was determined using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing. Two brain regions and two time points (day 4 and day 60) were surveyed in each group. Each biological replicate is a pool of tissue from three animals.
Project description:In Arabidopsis, CHG DNA methylation is controlled by the H3K9 methylation mark through a self-reinforcing loop between DNA methyltransferase CHROMOMETHYLASE3 (CMT3) and H3K9 histone methyltransferase KRYPTONITE/SUVH4 (KYP). We report on the structure of KYP in complex with methylated DNA, substrate H3 peptide and cofactor SAH, thereby defining the spatial positioning of the SRA domain relative to the SET domain. The methylated DNA is bound by the SRA domain with the 5mC flipped out of the DNA, while the H3(1-15) peptide substrate binds between the SET and post-SET domains, with the epsilon-ammonium of K9 positioned adjacent to bound SAH. These structural insights complemented by in vivo functional data on key mutants of residues lining the 5mC and H3K9-binding pockets within KYP, establish how methylated DNA recruits KYP to the histone substrate. Together, the structures of KYP and previously reported CMT3 complexes provide insights into molecular mechanisms linking DNA and histone methylation. Plants homozygous for null mutations in the KRYPTONITE H3K9 methyltransferase were stably transformed with transgenes encoding the wildtype KYP protein or transgenes carrying induced point mutations in the KYP active site. The resulting lines were assayed for DNA methylation by whole-genome bisulfite sequencing to learn the efficiency with which wildtype and mutant versions of the KYP protein could restore DNA methylation lost in a kyp mutant. Samples 7 and 8 were run as single Illumina lanes and as such were compared to a previous Col sample (GSM881756), this Col sample was realigned to the TAIR10 genome for this study and as such updated processed files are available with this submission. These samples were used to define kyp mutant CHG context DMRs that were complemented upon introduction of the wildtype KYP protein. Samples 1-6 were run as multiplexed samples and were used to assay the degree of complementation for various point mutants. All plants are in the Col ecotype background.