Preface

DNA, which is the basic determinant of life, is a molecule that has very interesting properties and can be complex and simple simultaneously. Since Watson and Crick, who discovered the molecular structure of DNA, we still continue to understand DNA.

One of these interesting features of DNA is epigenetic modifications. Noninherited molecular changes that occur without any change in DNA sequence are called "epigenetics". Epigenetics, the existence of which was known before Watson and Crick, was first described by Conrad Waddington in 1942 as phenotypic changes caused by the relationship between gene and gene products. Although it was then thought to be related to cell division only, it has been shown that epigenetic processes can be passed on to the next generations. It is now known to have a similar functioning in yeasts, fruit flies, mice, humans, and especially plants. The genome is the sum of genetic information in the DNA sequence of a cell/organism. The epigenome is when a cell/organism regulates gene expression independently from the DNA sequence by chemical modifications of DNA and histone molecules.

The purpose of this book is to cover the mechanisms of action of epigenetic changes in different living species while also looking at the environmental factors, cancer, and embryonic life for a better understanding of epigenetic changes. It is also to create a resource book that can appeal to people from many different fields of science, from beginners to professionals, to investigate epigenetic mechanisms.

**II**

**Section 4**

Plant Genomes

Experimental Methods in Methylation Researchs **117**

**Chapter 7 119**

**Chapter 8 141**

Atlas of Age- and Tissue-Specific DNA Methylation during Early

Library Preparation for Whole Genome Bisulfite Sequencing of

*by Kendall R. Corbin and Carlos M. Rodriguez Lopez*

*by Moumouni Konate, Mike J. Wilkinson, Benjamin T. Mayne, Eileen S. Scott, Bettina Berger and Carlos M. Rodríguez López*

Development of Barley (*Hordeum vulgare*)

**Metin Budak and Mustafa Yildiz**  Trakya University, Turkey

**1**

Section 1

Environmental Factors in

Methylation Mechanisms

Section 1
