TY - JOUR T1 - The evolution of CHROMOMETHYLASES and gene body DNA methylation in plants JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/054924 SP - 054924 AU - Adam J. Bewick AU - Chad E. Niederhuth AU - Nicholas A. Rohr AU - Patrick T. Griffin AU - Jim Leebens-Mack AU - Robert J. Schmitz Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/05/24/054924.abstract N2 - The evolution of gene body methylation (gbM) and the underlying mechanism is poorlyunderstood. By pairing the largest collection of CHROMOMETHYLASE (CMT) sequences (773)and methylomes (72) across land plants and green algae we provide novel insights into the evolution of gbM and its underlying mechanism. The angiosperm-and eudicot-specific whole genome duplication events gave rise to what are now referred to as CMT1, 2 and3 lineages. CMTε, which includes the eudicot-specific CMT1 and 3, and orthologous angiosperm clades, is essential for the perpetuation of gbM in angiosperms, implyinthat gbM evolved at least 236 MYA. Independent losses of CMT1, 2 and 3 in eudicots, and CMT2 and CMTεmonocot+magnoliid in monocots suggests overlapping orfluid functional evolution. The resulting gene family phylogeny of CMT transcripts from the most diverse sampling of plants to date redefines our understanding of CMT evolution and its evolutionary consequences on DNA methylation. ER -