DNA methylation changes induced by long and short photoperiods in Nasonia
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Date
01/02/2016Funder
Grant ID
NE/J024481/1
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Abstract
Many organisms monitor the annual change in day length and use this information for the timing of their seasonal response. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying photoperiodic timing are largely unknown. The wasp Nasonia vitripennis is an emerging model organism that exhibits a strong photoperiodic response: Short autumnal days experienced by females lead to the induction of developmental arrest (diapause) in their progeny, allowing winter survival of the larvae. How female Nasonia control the developmental trajectory of their offspring is unclear. Here, we took advantage of the recent discovery that DNA methylation is pervasive in Nasonia and tested its role in photoperiodism. We used reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) to profile DNA methylation in adult female wasps subjected to different photoperiods and identified substantial differential methylation at the single base level. We also show that knocking down DNA methyltransferase 1a (Dnmt1a), Dnmt3, or blocking DNA methylation pharmacologically, largely disrupts the photoperiodic diapause response of the wasps. To our knowledge, this is the first example for a role of DNA methylation in insect photoperiodic timing.
Citation
Pegoraro , M , Bafna , A , Davies , N J , Shuker , D M & Tauber , E 2016 , ' DNA methylation changes induced by long and short photoperiods in Nasonia ' , Genome Research , vol. 26 , no. 2 , pp. 203-210 . https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.196204.115
Publication
Genome Research
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1088-9051Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2016 Pegoraro et al. This article, published in Genome Research, is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution 4.0 International).
Description
This study was partly supported by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) award to E.T. (BB/K001922/1), N.J.D. (BB/J014532/1), and the University of Leicester Open Scholarship to A.B., and also by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/J024481/1).Collections
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