J Integr Plant Biol. ›› 2022, Vol. 64 ›› Issue (12): 2215-2216.DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13424

• Editorial •     Next Articles

Celebrating the discovery of DNA demethylase

Zhizhong Gong1,2* and Jian‐Kang Zhu3   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
    2 School of Life Sciences, Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China
    3 School of Life Sciences, Institute of Advanced Biotechnology, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

    *Correspondence: Zhizhong Gong (gongzz@cau.edu.cn)
  • Received:2022-12-07 Accepted:2022-12-07 Online:2022-12-07 Published:2022-12-01

Abstract:

Maintaining correct DNA methylation patterns entails the addition of methyl groups by DNA methyltransferases and the active removal of methylation from DNA. Removing a methyl group from 5-methylcytosine requires breaking a strong C–C bond, suggesting that demethylation might occur by an alternative mechanism that does not involve severing this bond. Indeed, the discovery of the 5-methylcytosine DNA glycosylase (also known as DNA demethylase) REPRESSOR OF SILENCING 1 (ROS1) by (Gong et al., 2002) revolutionized thinking in this field, as the study of ROS1 revealed a mechanism by which 5-methylcytosine is excised and replaced by the DNA repair machinery. This special issue celebrates the 20th anniversary of the discovery of ROS1 and the remarkable research that followed.

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