Improved detection of methylation in ancient DNA
More On Article
- HEAS Seed Grants for June 2026 Announced
- Genomic insights into the Iron Age Saka of Boz-Barmak, Kyrgyzstan
- Paleogenomes reveal the evolutionary relationship between modern and cave lions
- Wind(ow) of change: The end of the Middle Stone Age and the beginning of the Later Stone Age at Umhlatuzana rockshelter showcasing concurrent technological and techno-economic shifts.
- Bone retouchers and end-scrapers side by side at Bushman Rock Shelter: Exploring a ca. 100,000-year-old technological imbrication in southern Africa
Sawyer, S., Gelabert, P., Yakir, B., Llanos-Lizcano, A., Sperduti, A., Bondioli, L., Cheronet, O., Neugebauer-Maresch, C., Teschler-Nicola, M., Novak, M., Pap, I., Szikossy, I., Hajdu, T., Moiseyev, V., Gromov, A., Zariņa, G., Meshorer, E., Carmel, L., Pinhasi, R., 2024. Improved detection of methylation in ancient DNA. Genome Biology 25, 261.
Abstract
Reconstructing premortem DNA methylation levels in ancient DNA has led to breakthrough studies such as the prediction of anatomical features of the Denisovan. These studies rely on computationally inferring methylation levels from damage signals in naturally deaminated cytosines, which requires expensive high-coverage genomes. Here, we test two methods for direct methylation measurement developed for modern DNA based on either bisulfite or enzymatic methylation treatments. Bisulfite treatment shows the least reduction in DNA yields as well as the least biases during methylation conversion, demonstrating that this method can be successfully applied to ancient DNA.