Insights into the DNA methylation of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus in response to skin ulceration syndrome infection

Abstract DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that regulates gene expression in many biological processes, including immune response. In this study, whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) was carried out on healthy body wall (HB) and skin ulceration syndrome (SUS) infected body wall (SFB) to gain insights into the epigenetic regulatory mechanism in sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. After comparison, a total of 116,522 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were obtained including 67,269 hyper-methylated and 49,253 hypo-methylated DMRs (p