Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, QMUL, London, UK.
Nat Rev Genet. 2019 Jul;20(7):417-431. doi: 10.1038/s41576-019-0106-6.
Maintenance of genome stability requires control over the expression of transposable elements (TEs), whose activity can have substantial deleterious effects on the host. Chemical modification of DNA is a commonly used strategy to achieve this, and it has long been argued that the emergence of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) in many species was driven by the requirement to silence TEs. Potential roles in TE regulation have also been suggested for other DNA modifications, such as N6-methyladenine and oxidation derivatives of 5mC, although the underlying mechanistic relationships are poorly understood. Here, we discuss current evidence implicating DNA modifications and DNA-modifying enzymes in TE regulation across different species.
维持基因组稳定性需要控制转座元件 (TEs) 的表达，TEs 的活性可能对宿主产生实质性的有害影响。对 DNA 进行化学修饰是实现这一目标的常用策略，长期以来，人们一直认为许多物种中 5-甲基胞嘧啶 (5mC) 的出现是由于需要沉默 TEs。其他 DNA 修饰，如 N6-甲基腺嘌呤和 5mC 的氧化衍生物，也被认为在 TEs 调控中具有潜在作用，尽管其潜在的机制关系尚未得到很好的理解。在这里，我们讨论了目前的证据，这些证据表明 DNA 修饰和 DNA 修饰酶在不同物种的 TE 调控中起作用。
