A plant virus differentially alters DNA methylation in two cryptic species of a hemipteran vector

This study investigated DNA methylation patterns in two cryptic species (B and Q) of the sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), following the acquisition of the tomato yellow curl virus, a single-stranded DNA virus. The methylation levels in genomic features such as promoters, gene bodies, and transposable elements in both cryptic species were described in this study. While overall trends were found to be similar, specific differences in methylation levels were observed. Virus-induced differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were associated with different genes in each cryptic species and were negatively correlated with differential gene expression. These DMRs were analyzed for changes in gene expression and alternative splicing, revealing clusters of hyper- and hypomethylated genes related to virus-vector interactions, immune functions, and detoxification processes. These methylation differences may help explain the distinct biological and physiological traits observed betw..., This dataset was generated from bisulfite-converted sequencing of DNA from non-viruliferous and viruliferous whiteflies., , # A plant virus differentially alters DNA methylation in two cryptic species of a hemipteran vector

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jdfn2z3jn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jdfn2z3jn)

## Description of the data and file structure

The deposited dataset includes methylation calling files from whitefly B and Q cryptic species, from non-viruliferous and viruliferous samples.

The OmicsBox (.box) file contains gene annotations for Q cryptic species and can be accessed using [OmicsBox](https://www.biobam.com/download-omicsbox/).

Methylation reports are formatted as , see [https://felixkrueger.github.io/Bismark/bismark/methylation_extraction/](https://felixkrueger.github.io/Bismark/bismark/methylation_extraction/) for more information.

SeqMonk files (.smk) with calls for methylation can be accessed using [SeqMonk](https://www.bioinformatics.babraham.ac.uk/projects/seqmonk/).

Transposable element annotations have been deposited and can be found in the files with \"EDTA\" in their file...