Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation and post-translational histonemodifications are involved in transposable elements (TE) silencing in many species. Theirrelative abundance in genomes ask the question of differences in regulation mecanismbetween species. Within the Drosophila simulans species, natural populations exibits a uniquepolymorphism in TE copy number, providing a powerfull tool for the analysis of TEregulation in population from the same specie. We analyzed DNA methylation and posttranslationalhistone modifications associated with the LTR retrotransposon tirant in thegermline of natural populations and report the influence of this element on chromatinestructure. DNA methylation is a wide-conserved epigenetic modification involved in generegulation and TE silencing but its function in drosophila remains missunderstood. Usingdifferent methods, we determined the abundance of methylated cytosines in drosophila, andshowed that methylation level are low and variable between species. Our results show lowevidence for a TE regulation system involving DNA methylation but this cannot be so farexcluded.
