Xiaoyu Zhang

TL;DR: A map at single-base-pair resolution of methylated cytosines for Arabidopsis is generated by combining bisulphite treatment of genomic DNA with ultra-high-throughput sequencing using the Illumina 1G Genome Analyser and Solexa sequencing technology.

TL;DR: This is the first comprehensive DNA methylation map of an entire genome, at 35 base pair resolution, using the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a model and finds that pericentromeric heterochromatin, repetitive sequences, and regions producing small interfering RNAs are heavily methylated.

TL;DR: Comparisons of DNA methylation in eight diverse plant and animal genomes found that patterns of methylation are very similar in flowering plants with methylated cytosines detected in all sequence contexts, whereas CG methylation predominates in animals.

TL;DR: The sequence and the structure of DNA methyltransferase-2 (DnMT2) bear close affinities to authentic DNA cytosine methyltransferases, and human DNMT2 protein restored methylation in vitro to tRNAAsp from Dnmt2-deficient strains of mouse, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Drosophila melanogaster in a manner that was dependent on preexisting patterns of modified nucleosides.

TL;DR: It is found that nucleosomal DNA was more highly methylated than flanking DNA and that DNA methyltransferases preferentially target nucleosome-bound DNA, indicating that the relationships between nucleosomes and DNA methyl transferases are conserved.