Epigenetic regulation through
post-translational modification of
histones, especially
methylation, is wellconserved in evolution. Although there are several
insect genomes sequenced, an
analysis with a focus on theirepigenetic repertoire is limited. We have utilized a novel
work-flow to identify one or more domains as highpriority domain (HPD), if present in at least 50% of the
genes of a given functional class in the referencegenome, namely, that of
Drosophila melanogaster. Based on this approach, we have mined
histone methyltransferases and demethylases from the whole
genome sequence of
Aedes aegypti (
Diptera), the
pea aphidAcyrthosiphon
pisum, the triatomid bug
Rhodnius prolixus (
Hemiptera), the honeybee
Apis mellifera (
Hymenoptera), the
silkworm Bombyx mori (
Lepidoptera) and the red
flour beetle Tribolium castaneum(
Coleoptera). We identified 38 clusters consisting of
arginine methyltransferases,
lysine methyltransferases anddemethylases using OrthoFinder, and the presence of HPD was queried in these sequences using InterProScan.This approach led us to identify putative novel members and currently inaccurate ones. Other than the highpriority domains, these
proteins contain
shared and unique domains that can mediate
protein–
protein interaction.
Phylogenetic analysis indicates that there is different extent of
protein sequence similarity; averagesimilarity between
histone lysine methyltransferases varies from 41% (for active mark) to 48% (for repressivemark),
arginine methyltransferases is 51%, and demethylases is 52%. The
method utilized here facilitatesreliable identification of desired functional class in newly sequenced
genomes