Finding the fifth base: Genome-wide sequencing of cytosine methylation
- Ryan Lister1,2 and
- Joseph R. Ecker1,2,3
- 1 Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA;
- 2 Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
Abstract
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.
Footnotes
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↵3 Corresponding author.
E-mail ecker{at}salk.edu; fax (858) 558-6379.
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Article published online before print. Article and publication date are at http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.083451.108.
- Copyright © 2009 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
