DNA methylation is gene regulation via alternative splicing DNA methylation levels in Drosophila melanogaster are nearly undetectable. Sensitive methods applied to Drosophila DNA Suggest levels in the range of 0.1–0.3% of total cytosine. This low level of methylation appears to reside in genomic sequence patterns that are very different from patterns seen in humans, or in other animal or plant species to date. Genomic methylation in D. melanogaster was found at specific short motifs (concentrated in specific 5-base sequence motifs that are CA- and CT-rich but depleted of guanine) and is independent of DNMT2 activity. Further, highly sensitive mass spectrometry approaches, have now demonstrated the presence of low (0.07%) but significant levels of adenine methylation during the earliest stages of Drosophila embryogenesis. In fungi Many fungi have low levels (0.1 to 0.5%) of cytosine methylation, whereas other fungi have as much as 5% of the genome methylated. This value seems to vary both among species and among isolates of the same species. There is also evidence that DNA methylation may be involved in state-specific control of gene expression in fungi. However, at a detection limit of 250 attomoles by using ultra-high sensitive mass spectrometry DNA methylation was not confirmed in single cellular yeast species such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Schizosaccharomyces pombe, indicating that yeasts do not possess this DNA modification. Although brewers' yeast (Saccharomyces), fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces), and Aspergillus flavus have no detectable DNA methylation, the model filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa has a well-characterized methylation system. Several genes control methylation in Neurospora and mutation of the DNA methyl transferase, dim-2, eliminates all DNA methylation but does not affect growth or sexual reproduction. While the Neurospora genome has very little repeated DNA, half of the methylation occurs in repeated DNA including transposon relics and centromeric DNA. The ability to evaluate other important phenomena in a DNA methylase-deficient genetic background makes Neurospora an important system in which to study DNA methylation. In other eukaryotes DNA methylation is largely absent from Dictyostelium discoidium where it appears to occur at about 0.006% of cytosines. In contrast, DNA methylation is widely distributed in Physarum polycephalum where 5-methylcytosine makes up as much as 8% of total cytosine In bacteria Adenine or cytosine methylation are mediated by restriction modification systems of many bacteria, in which specific DNA sequences are methylated periodically throughout the genome. A methylase is the enzyme that recognizes a specific sequence and methylates one