STUDIES OF DNA METHYLATION IN ANIMALS

We have been studying the evolution and function of DNA methylation in vertebrate animals using three related approaches. The first is to fu rther characterise proteins that bind to methylated DNA. Such proteins can be viewed as 'receptors' of the methyl-CpG 'ligand' that mediate downstream consequences of DNA modification. The second approach invol ves CpG islands. These patches of non-methylated DNA coincide with mos t gene promoters, but their origin and functional significance have on ly recently become the subject of intensive study. The third approach is to trace the evolution of DNA methylation. Genomic methylation patt erns of vertebrates are strikingly different from those of invertebrat es, By studying methylation in animals that diverged from common ances tors near to the invertebrate/vertebrate boundary, we will assess the possibility that changes in DNA methylation contributed causally to th e evolution of the complex vertebrate lineage.