Comparison of EM-seq and PBAT methylome library methods for low-input DNA.

Han Y, Zheleznyakova GY, Marincevic-Zuniga Y, Kakhki MP, Raine A, Needhamsen M, Jagodic M

Epigenetics 17 (10) 1195-1204 [2021-11-17; online 2021-11-17]

DNA methylation is the most studied epigenetic mark involved in regulation of gene expression. For low input samples, a limited number of methods for quantifying DNA methylation genome-wide has been evaluated. Here, we compared a series of input DNA amounts (1-10ng) from two methylome library preparation protocols, enzymatic methyl-seq (EM-seq) and post-bisulfite adaptor tagging (PBAT) adapted from single-cell PBAT. EM-seq takes advantage of enzymatic activity while PBAT relies on conventional bisulfite conversion for detection of DNA methylation. We found that both methods accurately quantified DNA methylation genome-wide. They produced expected distribution patterns around genomic features, high C-T transition efficiency at non-CpG sites and high correlation between input amounts. However, EM-seq performed better in regard to library and sequencing quality, i.e. EM-seq produced larger insert sizes, higher alignment rates and higher library complexity with lower duplication rate compared to PBAT. Moreover, EM-seq demonstrated higher CpG coverage, better CpG site overlap and higher consistency between input series. In summary, our data suggests that EM-seq overall performed better than PBAT in whole-genome methylation quantification of low input samples.

NGI Short read [Collaborative]

NGI Uppsala (SNP&SEQ Technology Platform) [Collaborative]

National Genomics Infrastructure [Collaborative]

PubMed 34709110

DOI 10.1080/15592294.2021.1997406

Crossref 10.1080/15592294.2021.1997406


Publications 9.5.0