Skip to main content
PMC home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1992 Jun 25;20(12):3207–3210. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.12.3207

The distribution of 5-methylcytosine in the nuclear genome of plants.

L M Montero 1, J Filipski 1, P Gil 1, J Capel 1, J M Martínez-Zapater 1, J Salinas 1
PMCID: PMC312460  PMID: 1620618

Abstract

We have determined the 5-methylcytosine (5mC) content in high molecular weight DNA, from two dicot (tobacco and pea) and two monocot (wheat and maize) plant species, fractionated according to base composition. The results show that the proportion of 5mC in the genomic fractions increases linearly with their guanine + cytosine (G + C) content while the proportion of non-methylated cytosine remains almost constant. This can be interpreted as a consequence of a difference in mutation pressure related to spontaneous deamination of 5mC to thymine between the different compartments of plant genomes.

Full text

PDF
3208

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams R. L. DNA methylation. The effect of minor bases on DNA-protein interactions. Biochem J. 1990 Jan 15;265(2):309–320. doi: 10.1042/bj2650309. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Antequera F., Bird A. P. Unmethylated CpG islands associated with genes in higher plant DNA. EMBO J. 1988 Aug;7(8):2295–2299. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03072.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bernardi G., Olofsson B., Filipski J., Zerial M., Salinas J., Cuny G., Meunier-Rotival M., Rodier F. The mosaic genome of warm-blooded vertebrates. Science. 1985 May 24;228(4702):953–958. doi: 10.1126/science.4001930. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bickmore W. A., Sumner A. T. Mammalian chromosome banding--an expression of genome organization. Trends Genet. 1989 May;5(5):144–148. doi: 10.1016/0168-9525(89)90055-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bird A. P. CpG-rich islands and the function of DNA methylation. Nature. 1986 May 15;321(6067):209–213. doi: 10.1038/321209a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bonen L., Huh T. Y., Gray M. W. Can partial methylation explain the complex fragment patterns observed when plant mitochondrial DNA is cleaved with restriction endonucleases? FEBS Lett. 1980 Mar 10;111(2):340–346. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(80)80823-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Cedar H. DNA methylation and gene activity. Cell. 1988 Apr 8;53(1):3–4. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90479-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Filipski J. Correlation between molecular clock ticking, codon usage fidelity of DNA repair, chromosome banding and chromatin compactness in germline cells. FEBS Lett. 1987 Jun 15;217(2):184–186. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(87)80660-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gruenbaum Y., Naveh-Many T., Cedar H., Razin A. Sequence specificity of methylation in higher plant DNA. Nature. 1981 Aug 27;292(5826):860–862. doi: 10.1038/292860a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Klaas M., Amasino R. M. DNA Methylation is Reduced in DNasel-Sensitive Regions of Plant Chromatin. Plant Physiol. 1989 Oct;91(2):451–454. doi: 10.1104/pp.91.2.451. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lewis J., Bird A. DNA methylation and chromatin structure. FEBS Lett. 1991 Jul 22;285(2):155–159. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(91)80795-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Matassi G., Montero L. M., Salinas J., Bernardi G. The isochore organization and the compositional distribution of homologous coding sequences in the nuclear genome of plants. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Jul 11;17(13):5273–5290. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.13.5273. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Matassi G., Montero L. M., Salinas J., Bernardi G. The isochore organization and the compositional distribution of homologous coding sequences in the nuclear genome of plants. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Jul 11;17(13):5273–5290. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.13.5273. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. McClelland M. The frequency and distribution of methylatable DNA sequences in leguminous plant protein coding genes. J Mol Evol. 1983;19(5):346–354. doi: 10.1007/BF02101638. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Montero L. M., Salinas J., Matassi G., Bernardi G. Gene distribution and isochore organization in the nuclear genome of plants. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Apr 11;18(7):1859–1867. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.7.1859. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wagner I., Capesius I. Determination of 5-methylcytosine from plant DNA by high-performance liquid chromatography. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1981 Jun 26;654(1):52–56. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(81)90135-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES