Sperm-inherited H3K27me3 impacts offspring transcription and development in C. elegans.

ABSTRACT: Paternal epigenetic inheritance is gaining attention for its growing medical relevance. However, the form in which paternal epigenetic information is transmitted to offspring and how it influences offspring development remain poorly understood. Here we show that in C. elegans, sperm-inherited chromatin states transmitted to the primordial germ cells in offspring influence germline transcription and development. We show that sperm chromosomes inherited lacking the repressive histone modification H3K27me3 are maintained in that state by H3K36me3 antagonism. Inheritance of H3K27me3-lacking sperm chromosomes results in derepression in the germline of somatic genes, especially neuronal genes, predominantly from sperm-inherited alleles. This results in germ cells primed for losing their germ cel

SUBMITTER: Kaneshiro KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6426959 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature