Lister Ryan, Ecker Joseph R
Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Genome Res. 2009 Jun;19(6):959-66. doi: 10.1101/gr.083451.108. Epub 2009 Mar 9.
Complete sequences of myriad eukaryotic genomes, including several human genomes, are now available, and recent dramatic developments in DNA sequencing technology are opening the floodgates to vast volumes of sequence data. Yet, despite knowing for several decades that a significant proportion of cytosines in the genomes of plants and animals are present in the form of methylcytosine, until very recently the precise locations of these modified bases have never been accurately mapped throughout a eukaryotic genome. Advanced "next-generation" DNA sequencing technologies are now enabling the global mapping of this epigenetic modification at single-base resolution, providing new insights into the regulation and dynamics of DNA methylation in genomes.
现在已经有了包括几个人类基因组在内的无数真核生物基因组的完整序列,而且DNA测序技术最近的重大进展正在为大量的序列数据打开闸门。然而,尽管几十年来人们都知道植物和动物基因组中相当一部分胞嘧啶以甲基胞嘧啶的形式存在,但直到最近,这些修饰碱基的精确位置在整个真核生物基因组中从未被准确绘制出来。先进的“下一代”DNA测序技术现在能够以单碱基分辨率对这种表观遗传修饰进行全基因组图谱绘制,为基因组中DNA甲基化的调控和动态变化提供了新的见解。