Postmeiotic Sex Chromatin in the Male Germline of Mice.
From: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, 02114, USA
Current biology : CB
- Publish Date: Apr 2006
- ISSN: 0960-9822
- Volume: 16
- Issue: 7
- Pages: 660-7
- Medium: Print
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Namekawa Satoshi H, Park Peter J, Zhang Li-Feng, et al. Postmeiotic Sex Chromatin in the Male Germline of Mice.. Curr. Biol. Apr 2006;16:660-7
Abstract
In mammals, the X and Y chromosomes are subject to meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI) during prophase I in the male germline, but their status thereafter is currently unclear. An abundance of X-linked spermatogenesis genes has spawned the view that the X must be active . On the other hand, the idea that the imprinted paternal X of the early embryo may be preinactivated by MSCI suggests that silencing may persist longer . To clarify this issue, we establish a comprehensive X-expression profile during mouse spermatogenesis. Here, we discover that the X and Y occupy a novel compartment in the postmeiotic spermatid and adopt a non-Rabl configuration. We demonstrate that this postmeiotic sex chromatin (PMSC) persists throughout spermiogenesis into mature sperm and exhibits epigenetic similarity to the XY body. In the spermatid, 87% of X-linked genes remain suppressed postmeiotically, while autosomes are largely active. We conclude that chromosome-wide X silencing continues from meiosis to the end of spermiogenesis, and we discuss implications for proposed mechanisms of imprinted X-inactivation.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Animals, Chromatin, Chromosome Positioning, Male, Meiosis, Mice, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Spermatids, Spermatogenesis, Spermatozoa, X Chromosome, X Chromosome Inactivation, Y Chromosome
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 16581510
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