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Science 2 October 1987:
Vol. 238. no. 4823, pp. 48 - 53
DOI: 10.1126/science.2958937
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Articles

Science, Vol 238, Issue 4823, 48-53
Copyright © 1987 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

A portable signal causing faithful DNA methylation de novo in Neurospora crassa

EU Selker, BC Jensen, and GA Richardson

Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene 97403.

Methylation of cytosine residues in eukaryotic DNA is common, but poorly understood. Typically several percent of the cytosines are methylated; however, it is unclear what governs which sequences eventually become modified. Neurospora crassa DNA containing the "zeta-eta" (zeta-eta) region, which is a region of unusually heavy methylation, was tested for its ability to direct DNA methylation de novo. DNA stripped of its methylation by propagation in Escherichia coli was reintroduced into Neurospora crassa by transformation. The zeta-eta region reproducibly became "properly" methylated whether inserted at its native chromosomal position or at ectopic sites. Adjacent Neurospora and bacterial sequences in the transforming DNA rarely became methylated. A model is presented that accounts for position-independent faithful methylation as observed in the zeta-eta region, as well as position-dependent methylation, as occasionally observed, especially with sequences not native to Neurospora.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The post-transcriptional gene silencing machinery functions independently of DNA methylation to repress a LINE1-like retrotransposon in Neurospora crassa.
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Lessons from the Genome Sequence of Neurospora crassa: Tracing the Path from Genomic Blueprint to Multicellular Organism.
K. A. Borkovich, L. A. Alex, O. Yarden, M. Freitag, G. E. Turner, N. D. Read, S. Seiler, D. Bell-Pedersen, J. Paietta, N. Plesofsky, et al. (2004)
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Genome Defense and DNA Methylation in Neurospora.
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Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 69, 119-124
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Synthesis of Signals for De Novo DNA Methylation in Neurospora crassa.
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Structure of the Chromosome VII Centromere Region in Neurospora crassa: Degenerate Transposons and Simple Repeats.
E. B. Cambareri, R. Aisner, and J. Carbon (1998)
Mol. Cell. Biol. 18, 5465-5477
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A Methylated Neurospora 5S rRNA Pseudogene Contains a Transposable Element Inactivated by Repeat-Induced Point Mutation.
B. S. Margolin, P. W. Garrett-Engele, J. N. Stevens, D. Y. Fritz, C. Garrett-Engele, R. L. Metzenberg, and E. U. Selker (1998)
Genetics 149, 1787-1797
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Dense nonsymmetrical DNA methylation resulting from repeat-induced point mutation in Neurospora.
E. Selker, D. Fritz, and M. Singer (1993)
Science 262, 1724-1728
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Abnormal chromosome behavior in Neurospora mutants defective in DNA methylation.
H. Foss, C. Roberts, K. Claeys, and E. Selker (1993)
Science 262, 1737-1741
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Dissection of the Signal for DNA Methylation in the {zeta}-{eta} Region of Neurospora.
E.U. Selker, G.A. Richardson, P.W. Garrett-Engele, M.J. Singer, and V. Miao (1993)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 58, 323-329
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Repeat-induced G-C to A-T mutations in Neurospora.
E. Cambareri, B. Jensen, E Schabtach, and E. Selker (1989)
Science 244, 1571-1575
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