Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Jul 19;108(29):11965-70. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1109631108. Epub 2011 Jul 5.
DNA methylation is a common epigenetic signaling mechanism associated with silencing of repeated DNA and transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes. Here we report that DNA methylation in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans is primarily localized within structural genes and modulates transcriptional activity. Major repeat sequences and multigene families are largely free of DNA methylation. Among the genes subject to DNA methylation are those associated with dimorphic transition between yeast and hyphal forms, switching between white and opaque cells, and iron metabolism. Transcriptionally repressed methylated loci showed increased frequency of C-to-T transitions during asexual growth, an evolutionarily stable pattern of repression associated mutation that could bring about genetic alterations under changing environmental or host conditions. Dynamic differential DNA methylation of structural genes may be one factor contributing to morphological plasticity that is cued by nutrition and host interaction.
DNA 甲基化是一种常见的表观遗传信号机制，与真核生物中重复 DNA 的沉默和转录调控有关。在这里，我们报告说，人类真菌病原体白色念珠菌中的 DNA 甲基化主要定位于结构基因内，并调节转录活性。主要的重复序列和多基因家族基本上没有 DNA 甲基化。在受 DNA 甲基化调控的基因中，有一些与酵母和菌丝形态之间的二态性转换、白细胞和不透明细胞之间的转换以及铁代谢有关。在无性生长过程中，转录受抑制的甲基化位点中 C 到 T 的转换频率增加，这是一种与抑制相关突变有关的进化稳定模式，这种突变可能会在环境或宿主条件发生变化时带来遗传改变。结构基因的动态差异 DNA 甲基化可能是形态可塑性的一个因素，这种可塑性是由营养和宿主相互作用引起的。
