Isolation of cDNA clones encoding DNA methyltransferase of sea urchin P. lividus: expression during embryonic development.

A full-length cDNA, encoding a DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase (DNA MTase), has been assembled from a series of overlapping cDNA clones isolated from P. lividus sea urchin embryo cDNA libraries. The cDNA contains 103 bp 5'-UTR, 4839 bp open reading frame corresponding to a 1612 amino acids (aa) protein and 2240 bp 3'-UTR including a terminal 18-bp poly(A) tail. Both the cDNA and the encoded protein are the longest so far reported for DNA MTases. The protein shows five distinct and sequential regions of identity with the other animal DNA MTases, with values of identity from zero to 80%. Northern blot analyses reveal a single RNA band of about 7.5 kb in length showing a highly regulated concentration pattern during development with peak value at the four blastomere stage.