4.8 Article

Myxosporea (Myxozoa, Cnidaria) Lack DNA Cytosine Methylation

Journal

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 38, Issue 2, Pages 393-404

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa214

Keywords

methylome evolution; whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS); Cnidaria; parasite; cytosine methylation

Funding

  1. National Science Foundation [MCB 1818288, MCB 1615664]
  2. Smooth Muscle Plasticity COBRE of the University of Nevada, Reno - National Institutes of Health [5P30GM110767-04]
  3. Tel-Aviv University [30003072000]
  4. Israel Science Foundation [652/20]
  5. Bureau of Reclamation, US Department of Interior [R15PG00065]

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DNA cytosine methylation plays a crucial role in biological processes, but has been lost in Myxosporea, a group of microscopic cnidarians. By studying the evolution of key enzymes in 29 cnidarians and conducting whole-genome bisulfite sequencing, it was confirmed that Myxosporea completely lack DNA cytosine methylation.
DNA cytosine methylation is central to many biological processes, including regulation of gene expression, cellular differentiation, and development. This DNA modification is conserved across animals, having been found in representatives of sponges, ctenophores, cnidarians, and bilaterians, and with very few known instances of secondary loss in animals. Myxozoans are a group of microscopic, obligate endoparasitic cnidarians that have lost many genes over the course of their evolution from free-living ancestors. Here, we investigated the evolution of the key enzymes involved in DNA cytosine methylation in 29 cnidarians and found that these enzymes were lost in an ancestor of Myxosporea (the most speciose class of Myxozoa). Additionally, using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing, we confirmed that the genomes of two distant species of myxosporeans, Ceratonova shasta and Henneguya salminicola, completely lack DNA cytosine methylation. Our results add a notable and novel taxonomic group, the Myxosporea, to the very short list of animal taxa lacking DNA cytosine methylation, further illuminating the complex evolutionary history of this epigenetic regulatory mechanism.

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