Genome complexity: lesser species (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, May 02, 2015, 01:29 (3275 days ago) @ David Turell

New markers found in algae, C. elegans, and fruit fly:-http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/42858/title/New-Epigenetic-Mark-Found-on-Metazoan-DNA/-"The epigenetic mark of DNA methylation, once thought to be rare if not nonexistent in worms and flies, occurs throughout the genomes of these organisms and in algae on the base adenine, not the cytosine known to be modified in mammals, according to a trio of papers published today (April 30) in Cell.-"The results are “mysterious and exciting,” said Josep Casadesús of the University of Seville, Spain, who was not involved in the work. “The secret of these three Cell papers is that now there are technologies that can detect very low levels [of methylation] that were impossible to detect with the old methods.”-"In bacteria, 6mA marks the template strand during DNA replication, enabling a cell to spot errors and regulate the cell cycle. The modification also helps differentiate bacterial DNA from viral genomic material, which lacks methylation. In eukaryotes, by contrast, methylated cytosine (5mC) is involved in development and DNA base repair. Because the mark is present on the DNA, it can be transferred both during DNA replication and even, potentially, from generation to generation. However, 5mC is not present in the roundworm C. elegans and only exists at low levels in Drosophila, so it was thought that DNA methylation was unimportant in these organisms."-I'm not surprised. I think there are rules and patterns all through the overall pattern of DNA development and controls. Research is just scratching the surface as new techniques are developed. We have a lot more to learn.