Imprinted X chromosome inactivation in marsupials: The paternal X arrives at the egg with a silent DNA methylation profile.

ABSTRACT: X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is an epigenetic process that results in the transcriptional silencing of one X chromosome in the somatic cells of females. This phenomenon is common to both eutherian and marsupial mammals, but there are fundamental differences. In eutherians, the X chosen for silencing is random. DNA methylation on the eutherian inactive X is high at transcription start sites (TSSs) and their flanking regions, resulting in universally high DNA methylation. This contrasts XCI in marsupials where the paternally derived X is always silenced, and in which DNA methylation is low at TSSs and flanking regions. Here, we examined the DNA methylation status of the tammar wallaby X chromosome during spermatogenesis to determine the DNA methylation profile of the paternal X prior to a

SUBMITTER: Milton AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11388282 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature