DNA methylation on cytosine in vertebrates such as zebrafish serves to silence gene
expression by interfering with the binding of certain transcription factors and through the
recruitment of repressive chromatin machinery. Cytosine DNA methylation is chemically
stable and heritable through the germline–but also reversible through many modes, making
it a useful and dynamic epigenetic modification. Virtually all of the enzymes and factors
involved in the deposition, binding, and removal of cytosine methylation are conserved in …