DNA甲基化是一种保守的表观遗传学修饰，在动植物的生长发育和逆境响应中起重要作用。相对于甲基化，目前对DNA去甲基化的调控仍了解较少。我们正向遗传筛选到一个在拟南芥中调控DNA去甲基化的抗基因沉默因子DUF6。初步分析发现，DUF6的N端含有4个Agenet结构域，可以结合组蛋白甲基化，提示它可能是一个组蛋白识别器。duf6突变导致基因沉默，并且基因组上近千个位点过度甲基化。本项目拟分析DUF6识别组蛋白甲基化的生化机制，筛选DUF6结合蛋白，鉴定DNA去甲基化过程中介导组蛋白识别器和去甲基化酶的中间组分，深入解析组蛋白识别器DUF6调控DNA去甲基化的分子机制。

DNA methylation is a conserved epigenetic mark important for development and stress responses in plants and many animals. Histone "reader" can recognize specific histone modification and mediate downstream biological events. Our preliminary study identified an Agenet domain-containing protein DUF6 as an anti-silencing factor that prevent gene repression and DNA hypermethylation. Here, we propose that DUF6 acts as a histone reader that recognizes histone methylation and recruits some factors to facilitate DNA demethylation enzymes to erase methylated DNA. We are going to study how the Agenet domains recognize different histone modifications and identify DUF6-associated proteins to find the targeting mechanisms of the DNA demethylase.