Biological process

DNA methylation maintenance following DNA replication, DNA methylation maintenance following cell division, genome methylation maintenance following DNA replication

The process that maintains methylated cytosine in newly synthesized DNA following DNA replication. After the establishment of novel DNA methylation marks, the newly created patterns must be faithfully transmitted by maintenance DNA methyltransferases during cell division.

CG methylation is maintained by two evolutionarily conserved core partners: (1) a maintenance DNA methyltransferase called DNMT1 in mammals and MET1 (DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE 1) in plants and (2) a cofactor named UHRF1 in mammals and VIM (VARIANT IN METHYLATION) in plants. In mammals, the maintenance of non-CG methylation typically involves DNMT3 enzymes. In plants, non-CG methylation is further divided in two classes of sequence, CHG and CHH, and requires distinct enzymatic machineries.