Reference Report

Reference
Citation	Phalke, S., Nickel, O., Walluscheck, D., Hortig, F., Onorati, M.C., Reuter, G. (2009). Retrotransposon silencing and telomere integrity in somatic cells of Drosophila depends on the cytosine-5 methyltransferase DNMT2. Nat. Genet. 41(6): 696--702. (Export to RIS)
FlyBase ID	FBrf0208049
Publication Type	Research paper
PubMed ID	19412177
PubMed Abstract	Here we show that the cytosine-5 methyltransferase DNMT2 controls retrotransposon silencing in Drosophila somatic cells. In Drosophila, significant DNMT2-dependent DNA methylation occurs during early embryogenesis. Suppression of white gene silencing by Mt2 (Dnmt2) null mutations in variegated P[w(+)] element insertions identified functional targets of DNMT2. The enzyme controls DNA methylation at retrotransposons in early embryos and initiates histone H4K20 trimethylation catalyzed by the SUV4-20 methyltransferase. In somatic cells, loss of DNMT2 eliminates H4K20 trimethylation at retrotransposons and impairs maintenance of retrotransposon silencing. In Dnmt2 and Suv4-20 null genotypes, retrotransposons are strongly overexpressed in somatic but not germline cells, where retrotransposon silencing depends on an RNAi mechanism. DNMT2 also controls integrity of chromosome 2R and 3R telomeres. In Dnmt2 null strains, we found stable loss of the subtelomeric clusters of defective Invader4 elements. Together, these results demonstrate a previously unappreciated role of DNA methylation in retrotransposon silencing and telomere integrity in Drosophila.
DOI	10.1038/ng.360
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Language of Publication	English
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Publication Type	Journal
Abbreviation	Nat. Genet.
Title	Nature Genetics
Publication Year	1992-
ISBN/ISSN	1061-4036 1546-1718
Data from Reference
Aberrations (2)
	In(1)w^m4 T(2;3)V21
Alleles (11)
	E(z)⁵ Ecol\lacZ^copiaLTR.cMa egg¹⁴³⁰ egg¹⁴⁷³ Hmt4-20^BG00814 Hmt4-20^SP JIL-1⁴ Mt2¹⁰⁵ Mt2¹⁴⁹ Su(var)3-9⁶ Su(var)205⁵
Balancers (1)
	T(2;3)V21-P{lacW}92E.x3
Constructs (4)
	P{5'EP} P{copiaLTR-lacZ.M} P{EP} P{RS5}
Genes (12)
	E(z) Ecol\lacZ egg His4 Hmt4-20 JIL-1 Mt2 satDNA Su(var)3-9 Su(var)205 TAS w
Insertions (12)
	invader4{}511 P{5'EP}Mt2¹⁰⁵ P{5'EP}Mt2¹⁴⁹ P{EP}GE15695 P{GT1}Hmt4-20^BG00814 P{hsp26-pt-T}118E-10 P{RS3}CB-0686-3 P{RS3}pan^CB-5204-3 P{RS5}5-HA-1005 P{RS5}5-HA-1902 P{RS5}5-HA-1925 P{RS5}5-HA-1992
Natural transposons (6)
	copia Doc gypsy HeT-A invader4 rover