# Environmental and Genetic Determinants of Dynamics in Gene Body Methylation

> **NIH NIH R15** · UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE · 2020 · $424,639

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The major objective of this Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) R15 project is to determine the
combinatory roles for environment and genetics for gene body methylation. The study of epigenetics, particularly
methylation, has emphasized that chemical and physical modifications of DNA can profoundly influence how the
genome is expressed and functions. The methylation of expressed regions of the genome has recently emerged
as an informative genomic marker for a range of human health concerns, including cancer susceptibility,
metabolic diseases, neurological function, and aging. The genomic distribution and potential function of cytosine
methylation in invertebrates has accelerated through studies of non-drosophilid insects and marine invertebrates,
including the model cnidarian Nematostella vectensis. Results from invertebrates strongly suggest that the
distribution of methylation is highly concentrated in gene bodies (introns and exons); an observation that has
transformed hypotheses about the function of methylation in physiology and environmental acclimatization.
Previous research has provided snap-shots of the methylation landscape that has opened opportunities for
studies of the dynamics and mechanisms of gene body methylation in response to specific physiological
stressors, across generations, and over extended periods of environmental variation. Nematostella is a powerful
model to address hypotheses for the roles of methylation due to its paired utility as an experimentally tractable,
genome-enabled lab model and the well-characterized distribution of gene body methylation and genetic
relationships of populations. The proposed research combines an integrated set of studies to characterize the
capacity for epigenome regulation and its functional role in response to abiotic and biotic stressors to connect
physiological and molecular acclimatization with gene body methylation (Aim 1), empirically determine the
inheritance of methylation states in offspring and the specific functions for DNA methyltransferases (Aim 2), and
leverage existing knowledge to determine the population structure of DNA methylation of natural environments
(Aim 3). Together, the results will improve understanding of the dynamics of gene body methylation in animals,
the common and unique shifts in methylation between different types of physiological stressors, and relative
importance of transgenerational inheritance of epigenetic modifications for offspring encountering shared
environments with parents.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9965300
- **Project number:** 1R15GM137253-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Adam Michael Reitzel
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $424,639
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9965300

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9965300, Environmental and Genetic Determinants of Dynamics in Gene Body Methylation (1R15GM137253-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9965300. Licensed CC0.

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