Analysis of dynamics of histone modifications during embryogenesis of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis

为了了解组蛋白修饰在动物胚胎发生中的作用，研究了组蛋白甲基化模式以及组蛋白赖氨酸甲基转移酶(HKMTs)和组蛋白赖氨酸去甲基酶(HKDMs)基因在腹水胚胎发生过程中的表达。研究表明，组蛋白H3赖氨酸4(H3K4)甲基化是转录的活性标志，而组蛋白H3赖氨酸27(H3K27)甲基化标志着转录抑制状态。芯片-定量聚合酶链式反应分析了甲基化的H3K4在乔纳尾芽期胚胎基因组的几个区域中的分布，发现甲基化的H3K4标记与活性基因的转录区域相关。检测了几乎所有HKMT和HKDM基因的表达模式，并鉴定了在Ciona胚胎发生过程中表达的基因。

To understand the role of histone modifications in animal embryogenesis, the histone methylation pattern and the expression of genes for histone lysine methyltransferases(HKMTs) and histone lysine demethylases(HKDMs) during ascidian embryogenesis were investigated. It has been shown that histone H3 lysine 4(H3K4) methylation is an active mark for transcription while histone H3 lysine 27(H3K27) methylation marks repressive states of transcription. ChIP-qPCR analysis of the distribution of methylated H3K4 in several selected regions of the genome of Ciona tailbud stage embryos revealed that the methylated H3K4 mark is associated with the transcribed region of active genes. Expression patterns of almost all HKMT and HKDM genes were examined and genes that are expressed during Ciona embryogenesis were identified.