ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses several aspects related to the involvement of DNA methylation in the aforementioned developmental processes. DNA methylation, one of the most characterized epigenetic modifications in eukaryotic organisms, plays a fundamental role in gene regulation during development. Aging implies continuous changes in metabolite translocation and transcriptional activity associated with alteration of metabolic routes and repair activity of cells. In general, animals have their major epigenetic switches during early developmental stages. The observed changes in extent of DNA methylation during aging and reinvigoration indicate that reinvigoration could be a consequence of epigenetic modifications opposite in direction to those that occur during aging. Epigenetic systems must be part of a relay from sensing a change in the environment to a change in gene expression. Different kinds of environmental stress can influence epigenetic mechanisms. The formation of germline cells late in development permits the transmission of stable epigenetic information acquired during.
