DNA methylation dynamics underlie metamorphic gene regulation programs in Xenopus tadpole brain [RNA-seq]

Changes in gene expression in the preoptic area/hypothalamus/thalamus of Xenopus tropicalis tadpoles were analyzed using RNAseq at four stages of metamorphosis. The middle brain region containing preoptic area/hypothalamus/thalamus was microdissected from Xenopus tropicalis tadpoles at four stages of metamorphosis: Nieuwkoop-Faber (NF) stage 50 (pre-metamorphosis), NF56 (pro-metamorphosis), NF62 (metamorphic climax), and NF66 (completion of metamorphosis). We isolated genomic DNA from tadpole brain to generate 3 biological replicates per developmental stage, isolated total RNA, generated libraries and did deep sequencing.