Dong Zou: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Shixiang Sun: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Rujiao Li: Core Genomic Facility, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Jiang Liu: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Jing Zhang: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China zhangj@big.ac.cn.
Zhang Zhang: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China zhangzhang@big.ac.cn.
DNA methylation plays crucial roles during embryonic development. Here we present MethBank (http://dnamethylome.org), a DNA methylome programming database that integrates the genome-wide single-base nucleotide methylomes of gametes and early embryos in different model organisms. Unlike extant relevant databases, MethBank incorporates the whole-genome single-base-resolution methylomes of gametes and early embryos at multiple different developmental stages in zebrafish and mouse. MethBank allows users to retrieve methylation levels, differentially methylated regions, CpG islands, gene expression profiles and genetic polymorphisms for a specific gene or genomic region. Moreover, it offers a methylome browser that is capable of visualizing high-resolution DNA methylation profiles as well as other related data in an interactive manner and thus is of great helpfulness for users to investigate methylation patterns and changes of gametes and early embryos at different developmental stages. Ongoing efforts are focused on incorporation of methylomes and related data from other organisms. Together, MethBank features integration and visualization of high-resolution DNA methylation data as well as other related data, enabling identification of potential DNA methylation signatures in different developmental stages and accordingly providing an important resource for the epigenetic and developmental studies.
