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Variability of DNA methylation pattern in somatic and germ cells in male newt (Amphibia, Urodela) Triturus cristatus carnifex
Author(s) -
Pontecorvo Giovanni,
De Felice Bruna,
Carfagna Mario
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(98)00798-4
Subject(s) - triturus , somatic cell , biology , dna methylation , zoology , genetics , gene , gene expression
In a survey of several mammalian genomes, namely humans, rodents and bovines, the differences in the 5‐methylcytosine (m 5 C) content show that repeated DNA sequences from sperm were undermethylated and from various somatic tissues were heavily methylated. This report shows a pattern of methylation in male newt (Amphibia, Urodela) Triturus cristatus carnifex ( T. c. c .) unlike that so far described by other authors in mammals. Using methylation sensitive and insensitive enzymes ( Hpa II and Msp I) and successive 3′ terminal labelling (fill‐in), we found a greater degree of DNA methylation in premeiotic germ and sperm cells compared to somatic tissue such as hepatocytes. Furthermore the degree of total DNA methylation in spermatozoa appears somewhere between premeiotic germ cells and somatic tissue. Blot hybridization shows that two highly conserved repetitive sequences in amphibian T. c. c ., pTvm1 and pTvm8, contribute significantly to the degree of DNA methylation, suggesting a function for these sequences, such as a role in transcriptional regulation.