Diversity in DNA: Identification of methylated deoxyadenosines in higher eukaryotes

Since the discovery that cytosine deoxynucleotides could be methylated (dC5m), not much is known in higher eukaryotes about modifications affecting other deoxynucleotides. Here, we now report that we detected N-6-methyl-deoxyadenosine (dA6m) not only in frog DNA, but also in other species including mouse and human. Our methylome analysis revealed that dA6m is widely distributed across the eukaryotic genome, is present in different cell types, but commonly depleted from gene exons. Since dA6m is a direct modification of DNA, it has the potential to generate a significant impact on different biological areas. Ultimately, our work shows that deoxycytidine modifications might not be the only ones in higher eukaryotes, suggesting that such direct DNA modifications might be more widespread than previously thought.