SUMMARY Cytosine methylation is involved in various biological processes such as silencing of transposable elements (TEs) and imprinting. Multiple pathways regulate DNA methylation in different sequence contexts, but the factors that regulate DNA methylation at a given site in the genome largely remain unknown. Here we have surveyed the methylomes of a comprehensive list of 86 Arabidopsis gene silencing mutants by generating single-nucleotide resolution maps of DNA methylation. We find that DNA methylation is site specifically regulated by different factors. Furthermore, we have identified additional regulators of DNA methylation. These data and analyses will serve as a comprehensive community resource for further understanding the control of DNA methylation patterning.

DNA methylation occurs in CG and non-CG sequence contexts. Non-CG methylation is abundant in plants, and is mediated by CHROMOMETHYLASE (CMT) and DOMAINS REARRANGED METHYLTRANSFERASE (DRM) proteins; however its roles remain poorly understood. Here we characterize the roles of non-CG methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana. We show that a poorly characterized methyltransferase, CMT2, is a functional methyltransferase in vitro and in vivo. CMT2 preferentially binds histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) dimethylation and methylates non-CG cytosines that are regulated by H3K9 methylation. We revealed the contributions and redundancies between each non-CG methyltransferase in DNA methylation patterning and in regulating transcription. We also demonstrate extensive dependencies of small RNA accumulation and H3K9 methylation patterning on non-CG methylation, suggesting self-reinforcing mechanisms between these epigenetic factors. The results suggest that non-CG methylation patterns are critical in shaping the histone modification and small non-coding RNA landscapes.

Disruption of the MECP2 gene leads to Rett syndrome (RTT), a severe neurological disorder with features of autism1. MECP2 encodes a methyl-DNA-binding protein2 that has been proposed to function as a transcriptional repressor, but despite numerous studies examining neuronal gene expression in Mecp2 mutants, no clear model has emerged for how MeCP2 regulates transcription3–9. Here we identify a genome-wide length-dependent increase in gene expression in MeCP2 mutant mouse models and human RTT brains. We present evidence that MeCP2 represses gene expression by binding to methylated CA sites within long genes, and that in neurons lacking MeCP2, decreasing the expression of long genes attenuates RTT-associated cellular deficits. In addition, we find that long genes as a population are enriched for neuronal functions and selectively expressed in the brain. These findings suggest that mutations in MeCP2 may cause neurological dysfunction by specifically disrupting long gene expression in the brain.

Nucleosomes compact and regulate access to DNA in the nucleus, and are composed of approximately 147 bases of DNA wrapped around a histone octamer1, 2. Here we report a genome-wide nucleosome positioning analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana utilizing massively parallel sequencing of mononucleosomes. By combining this data with profiles of DNA methylation at single base resolution, we identified ten base periodicities in the DNA methylation status of nucleosome-bound DNA and found that nucleosomal DNA was more highly methylated than flanking DNA. These results suggest that nucleosome positioning strongly influences DNA methylation patterning throughout the genome and that DNA methyltransferases preferentially target nucleosome-bound DNA. We also observed similar trends in human nucleosomal DNA suggesting that the relationships between nucleosomes and DNA methyltransferases are conserved. Finally, as has been observed in animals, nucleosomes were highly enriched on exons, and preferentially positioned at intron-exon and exon-intron boundaries. RNA Pol II was also enriched on exons relative to introns, consistent with the hypothesis that nucleosome positioning regulates Pol II processivity. DNA methylation is enriched on exons, consistent with the targeting of DNA methylation to nucleosomes, and suggesting a role for DNA methylation in exon definition.

SUMMARY DNA methylation and histone modification exert epigenetic control over gene expression. CHG methylation by CHROMOMETHYLASE3 (CMT3) depends on histone H3K9 dimethylation (H3K9me2), but the mechanism underlying this relationship is poorly understood. Here, we report multiple lines of evidence that CMT3 interacts with H3K9me2-containing nucleosomes. CMT3 genome locations nearly perfectly correlated with H3K9me2 and CMT3 stably associated with H3K9me2-containing nucleosomes. Crystal structures of maize CMT3 homologue, ZMET2, in complex with H3K9me2 peptides, showed that ZMET2 binds H3K9me2 via both BAH- and chromo-domains. The structures reveal an aromatic cage within both BAH- and chromo-domains as interaction interfaces that capture H3K9me2. Mutations that abolish either interaction disrupt CMT3 binding to nucleosomes, and show a complete loss of CMT3 activity in vivo. Our study establishes dual recognition of H3K9me2 marks by BAH- and chromo-domains, and reveals a novel mechanism of interplay between DNA methylation and histone modification.