Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, United States.
Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, United States.
Elife. 2021 Apr 12;10:e62202. doi: 10.7554/eLife.62202.
Given the importance of DNA methylation in protection of the genome against transposable elements and transcriptional regulation in other taxonomic groups, the diversity in both levels and patterns of DNA methylation in the insects raises questions about its function and evolution. We show that the maintenance DNA methyltransferase, DNMT1, affects meiosis and is essential to fertility in milkweed bugs, , while DNA methylation is not required in somatic cells. Our results support the hypothesis that is required for the transition of germ cells to gametes in and that this function is conserved in male and female gametogenesis. They further suggest that DNMT1 has a function independent of DNA methylation in germ cells. Our results raise thequestion as to how a gene that is so critical to fitness across multiple insect species is able to diverge widely across the insect tree of life.
鉴于 DNA 甲基化在保护基因组免受转座元件侵害以及在其他分类群中的转录调控方面的重要性，昆虫中 DNA 甲基化水平和模式的多样性引发了对其功能和进化的疑问。我们表明，维持 DNA 甲基转移酶 DNMT1 影响减数分裂，并且对乳草虫的生育力至关重要，而体细胞中不需要 DNA 甲基化。我们的结果支持这样的假设，即在 和中，从生殖细胞向配子的转变需要 ，并且这种功能在雄性和雌性配子发生中是保守的。它们进一步表明，DNMT1 在生殖细胞中具有独立于 DNA 甲基化的功能。我们的结果提出了一个问题，即对于跨多种昆虫物种至关重要的基因，如何能够在昆虫生命之树中广泛分化。
