Evolutionary Persistence of DNA Methylation for Millions of Years after Ancient Loss of a De Novo Methyltransferase

We examined how methylation has persisted since the ancient loss of DnmtX. Experimental and comparative studies reveal efficient replication of methylation patterns in C. neoformans, rare stochastic methylation loss and gain events, and the action of natural selection. We propose that an epigenome has been propagated for>50 million years through a process analogous to Darwinian evolution of the genome.Graphical Abstract

Source: Cell - January 17, 2020 Category: Cytology Source Type: research