Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: Flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.

The increasing interest in studying DNA methylation to understand how traits or diseases develop requires new and flexible approaches for quantifying DNA methylation in a diversity of organisms. In particular, we need efficient yet cost-effective ways to measure CpG methylation states over large and...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dustin R Rubenstein, Joseph Solomon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282672
_version_ 1797842927643262976
author Dustin R Rubenstein
Joseph Solomon
author_facet Dustin R Rubenstein
Joseph Solomon
author_sort Dustin R Rubenstein
collection DOAJ
description The increasing interest in studying DNA methylation to understand how traits or diseases develop requires new and flexible approaches for quantifying DNA methylation in a diversity of organisms. In particular, we need efficient yet cost-effective ways to measure CpG methylation states over large and complete regions of the genome. Here, we develop TEEM-Seq (target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing), a method that combines enzymatic methyl sequencing with a custom-designed hybridization capture bait set that can be scaled to reactions including large numbers of samples in any species for which a reference genome is available. Using DNA from a passerine bird, the superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus), we show that TEEM-Seq is able to quantify DNA methylation states similarly well to the more traditional approaches of whole-genome and reduced-representation sequencing. Moreover, we demonstrate its reliability and repeatability, as duplicate libraries from the same samples were highly correlated. Importantly, the downstream bioinformatic analysis for TEEM-Seq is the same as for any sequence-based approach to studying DNA methylation, making it simple to incorporate into a variety of workflows. We believe that TEEM-Seq could replace traditional approaches for studying DNA methylation in candidate genes and pathways, and be effectively paired with other whole-genome or reduced-representation sequencing approaches to increase project sample sizes. In addition, TEEM-Seq can be combined with mRNA sequencing to examine how DNA methylation in promoters or other regulatory regions is related to the expression of individual genes or gene networks. By maximizing the number of samples in the hybridization reaction, TEEM-Seq is an inexpensive and flexible sequence-based approach for quantifying DNA methylation in species where other capture-based methods are unavailable or too expensive, particularly for non-model organisms.
first_indexed 2024-04-09T16:56:11Z
format Article
id doaj.art-a935b372a31d45a5a766ffdf56b7b77f
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-09T16:56:11Z
publishDate 2023-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-a935b372a31d45a5a766ffdf56b7b77f2023-04-21T05:36:05ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01183e028267210.1371/journal.pone.0282672Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: Flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.Dustin R RubensteinJoseph SolomonThe increasing interest in studying DNA methylation to understand how traits or diseases develop requires new and flexible approaches for quantifying DNA methylation in a diversity of organisms. In particular, we need efficient yet cost-effective ways to measure CpG methylation states over large and complete regions of the genome. Here, we develop TEEM-Seq (target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing), a method that combines enzymatic methyl sequencing with a custom-designed hybridization capture bait set that can be scaled to reactions including large numbers of samples in any species for which a reference genome is available. Using DNA from a passerine bird, the superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus), we show that TEEM-Seq is able to quantify DNA methylation states similarly well to the more traditional approaches of whole-genome and reduced-representation sequencing. Moreover, we demonstrate its reliability and repeatability, as duplicate libraries from the same samples were highly correlated. Importantly, the downstream bioinformatic analysis for TEEM-Seq is the same as for any sequence-based approach to studying DNA methylation, making it simple to incorporate into a variety of workflows. We believe that TEEM-Seq could replace traditional approaches for studying DNA methylation in candidate genes and pathways, and be effectively paired with other whole-genome or reduced-representation sequencing approaches to increase project sample sizes. In addition, TEEM-Seq can be combined with mRNA sequencing to examine how DNA methylation in promoters or other regulatory regions is related to the expression of individual genes or gene networks. By maximizing the number of samples in the hybridization reaction, TEEM-Seq is an inexpensive and flexible sequence-based approach for quantifying DNA methylation in species where other capture-based methods are unavailable or too expensive, particularly for non-model organisms.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282672
spellingShingle Dustin R Rubenstein
Joseph Solomon
Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: Flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.
PLoS ONE
title Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: Flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.
title_full Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: Flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.
title_fullStr Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: Flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.
title_full_unstemmed Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: Flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.
title_short Target-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing: Flexible, scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying DNA methylation.
title_sort target enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing flexible scalable and inexpensive hybridization capture for quantifying dna methylation
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282672
work_keys_str_mv AT dustinrrubenstein targetenrichedenzymaticmethylsequencingflexiblescalableandinexpensivehybridizationcaptureforquantifyingdnamethylation
AT josephsolomon targetenrichedenzymaticmethylsequencingflexiblescalableandinexpensivehybridizationcaptureforquantifyingdnamethylation