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Updated: Jul 28, 2026

Genome-wide Snapshot of Chromatin Regulators and States in Xenopus Embryos by ChIP-Seq
Published on: February 26, 2015
Constitutive genomic methylation during embryonic development of Xenopus
1Laboratory of Molecular Embryology, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. veenstrg@exchange.nih.gov
Abstract:
Methylation of CpG dinucleotides is a predominant modification of genomic DNA in many species, especially in vertebrates. This modification, generally associated with transcriptional repression, is rapidly and globally lost during mammalian pre-implantation development. This loss of methylation is gradually reversed during subsequent stages of development. Here we show that the amphibian Xenopus laevis maintains high levels of DNA methylation during early embryonic development. The methylation status of specific loci is independent of the temporal expression profile. The observations have profound implications for the regulation of early embryonic gene regulation and genome function.
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