APPLICATION OF METHYLIGHT APPROACH FOR DETECTION OF CYTOSINE METHYLATION IN FLAX SEEDS GROWN NEAR CHERNOBYL

Abstract

Nowadays, various approaches for the precise DNA methylation analysis are known. This study applied an advanced MethyLight approach for precise detection of cytosine methylation. Chernobyl area is still contaminated by long-lived radioisotopes thus the potential risk of DNA damage by radiation remains relatively high. Plants as sessile organisms are directly affected by irradiation. For the analysis presented herein, flax seeds grown on the experimental fields near Chernobyl have been used. Cytosine methylation was quantified in the specific coding region of Fatty acid desaturase 3A gene which has an important function in fatty acid biosynthesis. Quantitative real-time MethyLight revealed fully methylated sequence in the targeted gene.