Evolution of Epigenetic Regulation

 One of the most important questions in biology is how gene activity is temporally and spatially controlled. It has been several decades since we learned that not only DNA sequences but also other aspects of genetic regulation such as DNA/protein modifications influence chromatin remodeling and gene expression and thus the development of a variety of organisms. Epigenetic regulation involving methylation and acetylation of DNA or histone protein appears to be evolutionary conserved among species. However, it also seems that each organism evolves its own mechanism of epigenetic regulation of gene activity as shown by the fact that bacteria such as E. coli, yeast, the nematode, and the fruit fly lack DNA methylation. As organizers, Jurg Muller (EMBL), Kunio Shiota (Univ. Tokyo), and Shigeru Iida (NIBB) arranged this meeting in order to exchange the latest information on transcriptional regulation and remodeling of chromatin structure, regulation of cell differentiation, genomic imprinting, and so on. The sessions enabled discussion about both epigenetic regulation at different levels as well as the evolutional conservation of the epigenetic mechanism. As a result, species-specific mechanisms were highlighted through a series of presentations with a variety of organisms from yeast, plants, arthropods, to mammals. In addition, this meeting emphasized that genome-wide approaches to understanding the epigenetic state of the whole genome is important. We thank Drs. David Lane and Shigeru Iida for their stimulating plenary lectures.