DNA methylation,especially methylation of cytosine in eukaryotic organisms,has been implicated in gene regulation,genomic imprinting,the timing of DNA replication,and determination of chromatin structure.It was reported that 6.5% of the whole cytosine residues in the nuclear DNA in higher plants were methylated.The methylation of cytosine in plant nuclear DNA occurs usually in both CpG and CpNG sequences,and the methylation state can be maintained through the cycles of DNA replication and is likely to play an integral role in regulating gene expression.
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