Targeted bisulfite sequencing (TBS) to study methylation patterns in the conifer species Norway spruce (Picea abies)

To study methylation patterns in the conifer species Norway spruce (Picea abies) a targeted bisulfite sequencing (TBS) approach was applied. The focus on this study is set on four clone pairs, were clone members were growing in different climatic conditions for 24 years. TBS covered more than 26.000 annotated genes of the long-lived tree species Picea abies to characterize gene body methylation. The variance in methylation profiles did not reveal consistent changes between the investigated environments. However, a number of differentially methylated positions (DMPs) could be identified between environments. TBS was successfully applied in Norway spruce and can be further upscaled or transferred to other conifer species to broaden our knowledge of methylation patterns in natural tree populations.