DNA methylation regulates transcriptional homeostasis of algal endosymbiosis in the coral model Aiptasia

Abstract
The symbiotic relationship between cnidarians and dinoflagellates is the cornerstone of coral reef ecosystems. Although research has focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying this symbiosis, the role of epigenetic mechanisms, that is, the study of heritable changes that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence, is unknown. To assess the role of DNA methylation in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis, we analyzed genome-wide CpG methylation, histone associations, and transcriptomic states of symbiotic and aposymbiotic anemones in the model system Aiptasia. We found that methylated genes are marked by histone 3 lysine 36 trimethylation (H3K36me3) and show significant reduction of spurious transcription and transcriptional noise, revealing a role of DNA methylation in the maintenance of transcriptional homeostasis. Changes in DNA methylation and expression show enrichment for symbiosis-related processes, such as immunity, apoptosis, phagocytosis recognition, and phagosome formation, and reveal intricate interactions between the underlying pathways. Our results demonstrate that DNA methylation provides an epigenetic mechanism of transcriptional homeostasis that responds to symbiosis.

Citation
Li Y, Liew YJ, Cui G, Cziesielski MJ, Zahran N, et al. (2018) DNA methylation regulates transcriptional homeostasis of algal endosymbiosis in the coral model Aiptasia. Science Advances 4: eaat2142. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat2142.

Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments: We thank J. Pringle for the provision of the initial Aiptasia CC7 and Symbiodinium SSB01 cultures. We thank S. Baumgarten for his help with establishing the Aiptasia cultures and critical reading of the manuscript. We also thank the four anonymous reviewers for their effort and valuable suggestions, which greatly improved this study. Funding: Research reported in this publication was supported by baseline funding from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology to M.A.

Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Journal
Science Advances

DOI
10.1126/sciadv.aat2142

Additional Links
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/8/eaat2142

Relations
Is Supplemented By:
  • [Bioproject]
    Title: Aiptasia whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (DNA methylation) on cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Publication Date: 2017-10-23. bioproject: PRJNA415358 Handle: 10754/666486
  • [Software]
    Title: YongLiedu/Aiptasia_DNA_Meth: Here are some codes for DNA methylation analysis.. Publication Date: 2018-05-06. github: YongLiedu/Aiptasia_DNA_Meth Handle: 10754/666972

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