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

为了解组蛋白修饰在动物胚胎发生中的作用，研究了海鞘胚胎发生过程中组蛋白甲基化模式以及组蛋白赖氨酸甲基转移酶（HKMTs）和组蛋白赖氨酸脱甲基酶（HKDMs）基因的表达。已经表明，组蛋白H3赖氨酸4（H3 K4）甲基化是转录的活性标记，而组蛋白H3赖氨酸27（H3 K27）甲基化标记转录的抑制状态。ChIP-qPCR分析了甲基化H3 K4在玻璃海鞘尾芽期胚胎基因组几个选定区域的分布，揭示了甲基化H3 K4标记与活性基因的转录区域相关。几乎所有的HKMT和HKDM基因的表达模式进行了检查，并确定在玻璃海鞘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.