5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine alters DNA methylation patterns on a genome-wide scale.

However, that work lacked direct evidence of the effects of 5-aza-dC on DNA methylation, and indeed the effect of the chemical has since been questioned in Nasonia. Here, using whole-genome bisulphite sequencing of more than 4 million CpGs, across more than 11,000 genes, we demonstrate unequivocally that 5-aza-dC disrupts methylation on a large scale across the Nasonia vitripennis genome. We employed a three by three factorial design whereby females were allocated to one of three 5-aza-dC exposure regimes and were harvested post-feeding at three time points. Exposure regimes were a) 20% sucrose for 24h, b) 20% sucrose supplemented with 10 µM 5-aza-dC for 24h and c) 20% sucrose supplemented with 10 µM 5-aza-dC for 48h. For each of the three regimes, females were harvested at 0, 24 or 48h post-exposure.