Bisulfite probing reveals DNA structural intricacies

Abstract

In recent decades, study of DNA structure has largely been focused on the interrelationships between nucleotides at the level of nearest neighbours. A little-utilized approach to probing structure on a larger scale is non-denaturing bisulfite modification of genomic DNA in conjunction with high-throughput sequencing. This technique revealed a marked gradient in reactivity increasing towards the 5' end of poly-dC:dG mononucleotide repeats as short as two base pairs, suggesting that access of the anion may be greater at these points due to positive-roll bending not predicted by existing models. Consistent with this, the 5' ends of these repeats are strikingly enriched at positions relative to the nucleosome dyad that bend towards the major groove, while their 3' ends tend to sit outside these areas. Mutation rates are also higher at the 5' ends of poly-dC:dG when CpG dinucleotides are excluded. These findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying bending/flexibility of the DNA double helix as well as the sequences that facilitate DNA packaging.