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Science 27 October 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5799, pp. 645 - 647
DOI: 10.1126/science.1135213
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Reports

Functional CpG Methylation System in a Social Insect

Ying Wang,1 Mireia Jorda,2 Peter L. Jones,1 Ryszard Maleszka,3 Xu Ling,4 Hugh M. Robertson,5,6,7 Craig A. Mizzen,1,6 Miguel A. Peinado,2 Gene E. Robinson5,6,7*

DNA methylation systems are well characterized in vertebrates, but methylation in Drosophila melanogaster and other invertebrates remains controversial. Using the recently sequenced honey bee genome, we present a bioinformatic, molecular, and biochemical characterization of a functional DNA methylation system in an insect. We report on catalytically active orthologs of the vertebrate DNA methyltransferases Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a and b, two isoforms that contain a methyl-DNA binding domain, genomic 5-methyl-deoxycytosine, and CpG-methylated genes. The honey bee provides an opportunity to study the roles of methylation in social contexts.

1 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
2 IDIBELL–Cancer Research Institute, L'Hospitalet 08907, Catalonia, Spain.
3 Visual Sciences and Australian Research Council Centre for Molecular Genetics of Development, Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
4 Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
5 Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
6 Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
7 Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: generobi{at}life.uiuc.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Inheritance of Traits Associated with Reproductive Potential in Apis mellifera capensis and Apis mellifera scutellata Workers.
L. A. Jordan, M. H. Allsopp, M. Beekman, T. C. Wossler, and B. P. Oldroyd (2008)
J. Hered.
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Nutritional Control of Reproductive Status in Honeybees via DNA Methylation.
R. Kucharski, J. Maleszka, S. Foret, and R. Maleszka (2008)
Science 319, 1827-1830
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The A, B, Gs of silencing.
E. Smith and A. Shilatifard (2007)
Genes & Dev. 21, 1141-1144
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CpG methylation is targeted to transcription units in an invertebrate genome.
M. M. Suzuki, A. R.W. Kerr, D. De Sousa, and A. Bird (2007)
Genome Res. 17, 625-631
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)