O-5: Reprogramming of Paternal DNA Methylome during Spermiogenesis

Pericentric heterochromatin reprogramming by new histone variants during mouse spermiogenesis

During male germ cell postmeiotic maturation, dramatic chromatin reorganization occurs, which is driven by completely unknown mechanisms. For the first time, we describe a specific reprogramming of mouse pericentric heterochromatin. Initiated when histones undergo global acetylation in early elongating spermatids, this process leads to the establishment of new DNA packaging structures organizin...

Enhancing resolution of natural methylome reprogramming behavior in plants

Reprogramming the Methylome: Erasing Memory and Creating Diversity

The inheritance of epigenetic marks, in particular DNA methylation, provides a molecular memory that ensures faithful commitment to transcriptional programs during mammalian development. Epigenetic reprogramming results in global hypomethylation of the genome together with a profound loss of memory, which underlies naive pluripotency. Such global reprogramming occurs in primordial germ cells, e...

DNA nicks and increased sensitivity of DNA to fluorescence in situ end labeling during functional spermiogenesis.

Terminal transferase can be used to quantitate DNA strand breaks in situ by labeling free 3'-hydroxyl ends with exogenous nucleotides. Endogenous nicks in DNA temporally appear and disappear during functionally significant structural rearrangements of chromatin. Fluorescence in situ end labeling of mouse and rat testicular cells demonstrated that functional spermiogenesis is associated with abu...

Membrane flow during nematode spermiogenesis

Two distinct types of surface membrane rearrangement occur during the differentiation of Caenorhabditis elegans spermatids into amoeboid spermatozoa. The first, detected by the behavior of latex beads attached to the surface, is a nondirected, intermittent movement of discrete portions of the membrane. This movement starts when spermatids are stimulated to differentiate and stops when a pseudop...

Paternal mitochondrial DNA transmission during nonhuman primate nuclear transfer.

Offspring produced by nuclear transfer (NT) have identical nuclear DNA (nDNA). However, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) inheritance could vary considerably. In sheep, homoplasmy is maintained since mtDNA is transmitted from the oocyte (recipient) only. In contrast, cattle are heteroplasmic, harboring a predominance of recipient mtDNA along with varying levels of donor mtDNA. We show that the two nonh...