Bisulfite-seq from Neurospora crassa a wild type (WT) strain grown in minimum medium, a dim-3 strain grown in minimum medium, and a dim-3 strain grown with supplemented histidine

We report the placement of cytosine methylation from the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa in wild type and dim-3 strains by bisulfite-sequencing. Compared to a wild type strain, the dim-3 strain has a global reduction in cytosine methylation, and this reduction in cytosine methylation is exacerbated by the supplementation of histidine to the growth medium. This global reduction in cytosine methylation results from a causative mutation in importin alpha (NUP-6), a component of the nuclear transport machinery, which severely reduces the level of the heterochromatic mark H3K9me3. NUP-6(dim-3) compromises the heterochromatic localization of several components of the DCDC, a histone H3K9 methyltransferase complex, which in turn reduces the level of Heterochromatin Protein-1 (HP1) found at heterochromatin and compromises the direct interaction between HP1 and the DNA methyltransferase dim-2. To determine whether the reduced level of cytosine methylation, as assayed by Southern blotting heterochromatic regions following digestion of genomic DNA with methylation-sensitive restriction endonucleases, is globally reduced at the A:T rich, repetitive DNA comprising heterochromatin, we performed Bisulfite-seq on a dim-3 strain (grown either in minimal medium or medium supplemented with histidine) and compared that to a wild type strain (grown in minimum medium; histidine does not reduce the levels of cytosine methylation in a wild type strain, as assayed by Southern blotting). Overall design: Examination of cytosine methylation, as determined by bisulfite treatment, of two strains (a wild type strain and a dim-3 strain; the dim-3 strain was grown in two different conditions)