In: Biology
What role does DNA methylation play in evolution? Use a specific example to support your prediction.
DNA methylation plays an important role in evolution-
1 it is associated with important epigenetic processes such as
genomic imprinting, histone modification and X chromosome
inactivation.
2 Methylation occurs maily at 5 - Cytosine region,when it occurs in
CpG islands found in the 5′ regulatory regions including the
promoter regions in mammals, promotes gene silencing. Mainly the
viral DNA or transposable element are often repressed by DNA
methylation. Thus silencing mutations in constitutive genes.
3 DNA methylation in Non-CpG has been observed in mammals, with
high percentages in embryonic stem cells. These cells are highly
conserved during evolution and methylation helps to maintain
this.
The best example are the human.
In human and other mammals during the first few embryonic
replication cycles of morula and blastula,the rate of DNA
methylation increases,with CpG islands protected from methylation.
This results in repression of other genes and allows housekeeping
genes to be expressed in all cells.
Methylation pattern are stage and tissue specific with changes that
would define each individual cell type lasting stably over a long
period,during post implantation.