Conserved local hypomethylation control during the bacterial cell cycle and by superimposed environmental cues
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Heritable DNA methylation imprints occur in most genomes and underlie genetic variability in humans. The mechanism and consequences of establishing and propagating local hypomethylation through consecutive rounds of DNA replication and intermittent cell division cycles are poorly understood. Our genome-wide and site-specific methyl-N6-adenine (m6A-) analyses reveal a conserved local hypomethylation mechanism in two α-proteobacterial model systems. We show that MucR, a DNA-binding protein that uses an ancestral zinc-finger fold to control expression of virulence and cell cycle genes, competes with the cell cycle-regulated adenine-methyltransferase CcrM for target sites in S-phase, but not in G1-phase. Constitutive expression of CcrM or heterologous methylases during the cell cycle homogenizes m6A patterns even when MucR is present and controls transcription. We also find that environmental responses can impose methylation remodelling at certain sites, while the conserved cell cycle circuitry imposes systemic constraints on when local hypomethylation is instated.
ORGANISM(S): Caulobacter vibrioides NA1000 Caulobacter vibrioides Vibrio cholerae O1 biovar El Tor Escherichia coli str. K-12 substr. MG1655 Sinorhizobium meliloti
PROVIDER: GSE79880 | GEO | 2016/11/28
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA317321
REPOSITORIES: GEO
ACCESS DATA