What is it about?
Trichomonas vaginalis is a highly common sexually transmitted parasite. Host: parasite interaction is regulated by coordinated changes in gene expression, but it is still largely unknown how these changes in transcriptional profiles are controlled. We demonstrated that N6-methyladenine (6mA) is the main methylation mark in the T. vaginalis genome. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the presence of transcriptionally active or repressive intervals flanked by 6mA-enriched regions and results from chromatin conformation capture (3C) experiments suggest these 6mA flanked regions are in close spatial proximity. This finding revealed a new role for 6mA in modulating chromatin looping and gene expression in this parasite
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Why is it important?
This work highlighted the importance of epigenetics in the regulation of transcription and 3D chromatin structure in the parasite Trichomnas vaginalis. The association of N6-methyladenine with 3D genome organization is noteworthy because it points to a novel function for this epigenetic mark in eukaryotes with scarce 5‐methylcytosine levels.
Perspectives
Writing this article was a great pleasure as it has co-authors with whom I have had long standing collaborations but also new collaborators. More than anything else, I hope you find this article interesting.
Natalia de Miguel
Instituto Tecnológico Chascomus (INTECH, CONICET-UNSAM)
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Adenine DNA methylation, 3D genome organization, and gene expression in the parasite
Trichomonas vaginalis, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, May 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1917286117.
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