Protamine lacunae preserve the paternal chromatin landscape in sperm.

ABSTRACT: The transmission of the paternal genome requires extensive chromatin reorganization, in which nucleosomes are largely replaced by protamines that drive extreme condensation of the genome in the sperm head. Using Fiber-seq, we resolve patterns of paternal chromatin repackaging in sperm at single-molecule resolution, revealing the interplay between protamination and nucleosome retention. We find that nucleosome retention is probabilistic, with no locus universally occupied. Although promoters of spermatogenic genes preferentially harbor retained nucleosomes, the predominant carrier of paternal epigenetic information is protamine lacunae, accessible discontinuities in the protamine coat that preferentially mark critical regulatory elements. By contrast, centromere kinetochore binding regions

SUBMITTER: Tullius TW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12621882 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature