Fig. 3

DMRs in blood samples from COVID-19 patients on hospital admission are distinct from patients with non-COVID-19 respiratory illness in genes that participate in virus-related pathways and disorders. A Box and whisker plot depicts the difference in mean global methylation level (y-axis) between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 respiratory ill patients (1 and 0, respectively; x-axis). Each black dot represents the mean methylation level of each participant. These results indicate that global mean methylation levels do not distinguish COVID-19 from non-COVID-19 respiratory ill patients. B Circos plot depicts genomic distribution of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) across the human genome. (Outer ring) Each chromosome is shown as a different color. The relative chromosome size is represented by the arc bar length. (Inner rings) Hyper-methylated DMRs are shown in red and hypo-methylated regions are shown in blue. Sex chromosomes were omitted from the analysis. These results indicate that 254 DNA differentially methylated regions distinguish SARS-Cov-2 infection from non-COVID-19 respiratory illness. C Bar Graph of the top ten disease ontological (DO) biological processes related to the SARS-CoV-2-associted differentially methylated genes, ordered by statistical significance. The X-axis indicates the number of SARS-CoV-2 DMR-associated genes that contribute to each DO term. Bar color indicates the FDR p value using a Fischer test. These results indicate that the observed DMRs occur in genes that participate in inflammatory and host-defense processes. D Bar Graph of the top ten gene ontological (GO) processes related to the SARS-CoV-2-associated differentially methylated genes, ordered by statistical significance. The X-axis indicates the number of SARS-CoV-2 DMR-associated genes that contribute to each GO term. BAR color indicates the FDR P-value by using a Fischer test. These results indicate that the observed DMRs occur in genes that participate in the pathology of influenza, other viral infections and inflammatory disorders