Our recent progress in epigenetic research using the model ciliate, Tetrahymena thermophila

Abstract

Epigenetic research focuses on heritable changes beyond the DNA sequence, which has led to a revolution in biological studies and benefits in many other fields. The well-known model ciliate, Tetrahymena thermophila offers a unique system for epigenetic studies due to its nuclear dimorphism and special mode of sexual reproduction (conjugation), as well as abundant genomic resources and genetic tools. In this paper, we summarize recent progress made by our research team and collaborators in understanding epigenetic mechanisms using Tetrahymena. This includes: (1) providing the first genome-wide base pair-resolution map of DNA N ⁶-methyladenine (6mA) and revealed it as an integral part of the chromatin landscape; (2) dissecting the relative contribution of cis- and trans- elements to nucleosome distribution by exploring the unique nuclear dimorphism of Tetrahymena; (3) demonstrating the epigenetic controls of RNAi-dependent Polycomb repression pathways on transposable elements, and (4) identifying a new histone monomethyltransferase, TXR1 ( Tetrahymena Trithorax 1), that facilitates replication elongation through its substrate histone H3 lysine 27 monomethylation (H3K27me1).

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): MLST

Title: Marine Life Science & Technology

Publisher: Springer (China )

ISSN (Print): 2096-6490

ISSN (Electronic): 2662-1746

Publication date (Print): 01 November 2019

Publication date (Electronic): 25 November 2019

Volume: 1

Issue: 1

Pages: 4-14

Affiliations

¹Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China

²Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266003, China

³Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

⁴Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA

⁵MOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China

Author notes

*Corresponding author: Shan Gao, E-mail: shangao@ 123456ouc.edu.cn

Ting Cheng, Yuanyuan Wang, Jie Huang, Xiao Chen, and Xiaolu Zhao contributed equally to this article.

Article

Publisher ID: s42995-019-00015-0

DOI: 10.1007/s42995-019-00015-0

Copyright statement: © 2019 The Author(s)

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

Product

Self URI (journal-page): https://www.springer.com/journal/42995

Categories

Subject: Review