DNA Methylation in the Grasses: Through the Lens of Comparative Epigenomics

DNA methylation is a major epigenomic modification that is involved in a host of processes from transposon silencing, gene expression, and chromatin structure. In plants, it can also be inherited across generation and differences in methylation can lead to heritable phenotypic consequences without changes to the underlying DNA sequence. We used MethylC-seq and a comparative epigenomics approach to study DNA methylation across 34 Angiosperm species, many of which do not have previously published methylomes. We found extensive variation in methylation between species in all contexts. By taking into account phylogenetic relationships, we are able to identify lineage specific differences in methylation and how these relate to the evolution and origin of genes in each species.