Methyl-DNA binding proteins play an important role in epigenetic gene regulation. The Drosophila genome encodes a single protein (MBD2/3)with extended homologies to the vertebrate methyl-DNA binding proteins MBD2 and MBD3. However, very little is known about its functional properties. We have now characterized an MBD2/3 null mutant allele that is viable and fertile. This mutation caused a strong dominant suppression of position-effect variegation and also resulted in a high rate of chromosome segregation defects during early embryogenesis. Confocal analysis of mutant embryos showed local displacement of MI-2 from DNA and indicated that MBD2/3 is associated with only a subset of MI-2 complexes. In addition, band shift experiments demonstrated a specific binding of MBD2/3 to CpT/A-methylated DNA, which reflects the endogenous DNA methylation pattern of Drosophila.Consistently, the localization of MBD2/3 was disrupted in embryos with reduced levels of DNA methylation. Our data provide novel insights into the function of MBD2/3 proteins and strongly suggest the existence of methylation-dependent chromatin structures in Drosophila.
History of our journals
As our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 years old, read about Development’s journey and highlights from some its first issues, and explore the history of each of our sister journals: Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
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