The modifications of DNA occur mostly through methylation. It is a chemical procedure that changes the gene expression vividly. This is how an organism function that controls the production of proteins.
The chemical bases encodes the genetic information. Found in eukaryotes, methylated cytosine is the prevailing DNA modification. It is a taxonomical classification usually found in insects, worms, algae, plants and mammals. The first-hand papers now have figured out an adenine DNA methylation in green algae, flies and worms, which will maintain cellular function.
Genetic codes are bypassed to convey certain traits to their offspring, through epigenetics. Hence, transmissions can be carried out without changing the sequence of the DNA.
The human genome lacks movement and is fixed. “It contains dynamic DNA modifications that carry key inheritable epigenetic information passed among generations of cells,” said Chuan He, the John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor in Chemistry at University of Chicago and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.
All the three studies unfold the new epigenetic mark on eukaryotic DNA. It is a new field of chemical biology.
It was not known to the human mind regarding worms and flies containing DNA methylations. Scientists have been acknowledged about the presence of 6mA in green algae for the past 30 years. But the functions it regulates inside green algae were completely unknown. Recently, a Cell paper disclosed what 6mA does in Chlamydomonas, for a potential biofuel production. The methylated gene is associated with a reduced gene expression, “said Mets, who sums Chlamydomonas along with his research specialists. The difference in adenine methylation is that it is associated with a stronger gene expression.
