title: Sperm, but not oocyte, DNA methylome is inherited by zebrafish early embryos.
abstract: 5-methylcytosine is a major epigenetic modification that is sometimes called "the fifth nucleotide." However, our knowledge of how offspring inherit the DNA methylome from parents is limited. We generated nine single-base resolution DNA methylomes, including zebrafish gametes and early embryos. The oocyte methylome is significantly hypomethylated compared to sperm. Strikingly, the paternal DNA methylation pattern is maintained throughout early embryogenesis. The maternal DNA methylation pattern is maintained until the 16-cell stage. Then, the oocyte methylome is gradually discarded through cell division and is progressively reprogrammed to a pattern similar to that of the sperm methylome. The passive demethylation rate and the de novo methylation rate are similar in the maternal DNA. By the midblastula stage, the embryo's methylome is virtually identical to the sperm methylome. Moreover, inheritance of the sperm methylome facilitates the epigenetic regulation of embryogenesis. Therefore, besides DNA sequences, sperm DNA methylome is also inherited in zebrafish early embryos.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jing-Jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guoqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaodan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xingxu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xuegeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chung-I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ci
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D044503:5-Methylcytosine / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D044503:5-Methylcytosine