title: Sperm methylation profiles reveal features of epigenetic inheritance and evolution in primates.
abstract: During germ cell and preimplantation development, mammalian cells undergo nearly complete reprogramming of DNA methylation patterns. We profiled the methylomes of human and chimp sperm as a basis for comparison to methylation patterns of ESCs. Although the majority of promoters escape methylation in both ESCs and sperm, the corresponding hypomethylated regions show substantial structural differences. Repeat elements are heavily methylated in both germ and somatic cells; however, retrotransposons from several subfamilies evade methylation more effectively during male germ cell development, whereas other subfamilies show the opposite trend. Comparing methylomes of human and chimp sperm revealed a subset of differentially methylated promoters and strikingly divergent methylation in retrotransposon subfamilies, with an evolutionary impact that is apparent in the underlying genomic sequence. Thus, the features that determine DNA methylation patterns differ between male germ cells and somatic cells, and elements of these features have diverged between humans and chimpanzees.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Molaro
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hodges
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: W Richard
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: McCombie
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Hannon
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002503:Centromere / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000235:genetics*; D011323:Primates / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism