耕耘基因组：拟南芥中的DNA甲基化

Gardening the genome: DNA methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

作者信息

Chan Simon W-L, Henderson Ian R, Jacobsen Steven E

机构信息

Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

出版信息

Nat Rev Genet. 2005 May;6(5):351-60. doi: 10.1038/nrg1601.

DOI:10.1038/nrg1601

PMID:15861207

Abstract

DNA methylation has two essential roles in plants and animals - defending the genome against transposons and regulating gene expression. Recent experiments in Arabidopsis thaliana have begun to address crucial questions about how DNA methylation is established and maintained. One cardinal insight has been the discovery that DNA methylation can be guided by small RNAs produced through RNA-interference pathways. Plants and mammals use a similar suite of DNA methyltransferases to propagate DNA methylation, but plants have also developed a glycosylase-based mechanism for removing DNA methylation, and there are hints that similar processes function in other organisms.

摘要

DNA甲基化在植物和动物中发挥着两个重要作用——保护基因组免受转座子影响以及调控基因表达。最近在拟南芥上进行的实验已开始探讨有关DNA甲基化如何建立和维持的关键问题。一个重要的见解是发现DNA甲基化可由通过RNA干扰途径产生的小RNA引导。植物和哺乳动物利用一套相似的DNA甲基转移酶来传播DNA甲基化，但植物还发展出了一种基于糖基化酶的机制来去除DNA甲基化，并且有迹象表明类似过程在其他生物体中也起作用。