Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2015, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (8): 17-23.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2015.08.003

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Research Progress on Invertebrates DNA Methylation

Liu Ying, Tang Yongzheng, Gao Li   

  1. Ocean School,Yantai University,Yantai 264005
  • Received:2014-12-08 Online:2015-08-21 Published:2015-08-22

Abstract: DNA methylation is an important epigentic mechanism which can change organism’s transcriptome and phenotype without altering DNA sequence. In different evolutionary braches, the states of DNA methylation are fundamentally different. In invertebrates, DNA methylation usually occurs in transcription region and is closely related to genetic expression. Research shows that DNA methylation plays an important role in caste formation of social insects. It can improve the phenotypic plasticity of organism by increasing the amount of transcription variants via promoter recognition and exon skipping in highly fluctuating environments. This article reviewed the mechanism and function of DNA methylation in invertebrates to provide reference to related research and make prospects for future research.

Key words: DNA methylation, gene body methylation(GBM), transcriptome