Abstract
BackgroundThe parthenogenetic marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis) is a novel species that has rapidly invaded and colonized various different habitats. Adaptation to different environments appears to be independent of the selection of genetic variants, but epigenetic programming of the marbled crayfish genome remains to be understood.ResultsHere, we provide a comprehensive analysis of DNA methylation in marbled crayfish. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of multiple replicates and different tissues revealed a methylation pattern that is characterized by gene body methylation of housekeeping genes. Interestingly, this pattern was largely tissue invariant, suggesting a function that is unrelated to cell fate specification. Indeed, integrative analysis of DNA methylation, chromatin accessibility and mRNA expression patterns revealed that gene body methylation correlated with limited chromatin accessibility and stable gene expression, while low-methylated genes often resided in chromatin with higher accessibility and showed increased expression variation. Interestingly, marbled crayfish also showed reduced gene body methylation and higher gene expression variability when compared with their noninvasive mother species, Procambarus fallax.ConclusionsOur results provide novel insights into invertebrate gene body methylation and its potential role in adaptive gene regulation.
Highlights
The parthenogenetic marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis) is a novel species that has rapidly invaded and colonized various different habitats
The results reveal a DNA methylation pattern that is characterized by tissue-invariant gene body methylation of housekeeping genes
Identification of a conserved DNA methylation system in marbled crayfish We have recently assembled the transcriptome of the marbled crayfish and established a draft assembly of the complete genome sequence [7]
Summary
The parthenogenetic marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis) is a novel species that has rapidly invaded and colonized various different habitats. Comparative wholegenome sequencing of a diverse set of animals from various sources has shown that the global population can be Despite their genetic homogeneity, marbled crayfish have successfully invaded and colonized a variety of habitats in subtropical and temperate regions [8, 9]. This is exemplified by the rapid propagation of marbled crayfish on Madagascar, where the animals have increased their distribution area 100-fold over the past 10 years [7]. It is important to understand epigenetic regulation in marbled crayfish
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