Open AccessIncreased G+C content of DNA stabilises methyl CpG dinucieotides
Author(s) -
Roger Adams,
R.W. Eason
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
nucleic acids research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 9.008
H-Index - 537
eISSN - 1362-4954
pISSN - 0305-1048
DOI - 10.1093/nar/12.14.5869
Subject(s) - biology , cpg site , dna methylation , methylation , deamination , dna , gene , genome , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene expression , enzyme
The vertebrate genome is a mosaic of regions differing dramatically in their G + C content. Those regions with a high G + C content contain the expected number of CpG dinucleotides and we propose that following methylation these have been protected from deamination by the increased stability of the surrounding DNA duplex. This argument applies both to the microenvironment of the CpG dinucleotide and to whole gene regions.