DNA methylation constrains nucleosome retention in sperm and H3K4 methylation deposition in early mouse embryos [ATATA]

DNA methylation serves a stable gene regulatory function in mature somatic cells. In the germ line and during early embryogenesis, however, DNA methylation undergoes global erasure and re-establishment to support germ cell and embryonic development. While de novo DNA methylation during male germ cell development is essential for setting genomic imprints, possible other intergenerational roles for paternal DNA methylation following fertilization are unknown. To address this question, we reduced the level of DNA methylation in developing male germ cells through conditional gene deletion of the de novo DNA methyltransferases DNMT3A and DNMT3B in undifferentiated spermatogonia. Mutant male germ cells nevertheless completed their differentiation to sperm. We observed that DNMT3A serves a largely maintenance-like methylation function at many intragenic sites in undifferentiated spermatogonia while DNMT3B catalyzes de novo methylation during spermatogonial differentiation. In spermatogonia, the acquisition of DNA methylation and deposition of H3K4me3 occur mutually exclusive. Failing de novo DNA methylation in spermatogonia leads to increased nucleosome occupancy in mature sperm at sites with high CpG content, reinforcing the model that DNA methylation constrains nucleosome retention in sperm. To assess the impact of altered sperm chromatin in the formation of embryonic chromatin, we measured H3K4me3 occupancy at paternal and maternal alleles in 2-cell embryos using a highly sensitive transposon-based tagging assay for modified chromatin. Our data show that reduced DNA methylation in sperm renders paternal alleles permissive for H3K4me3 establishment in early embryos, independently from paternal inheritance of sperm born H3K4me3. Together, this study provides first evidence that paternally inherited DNA methylation directs chromatin formation during early embryonic development.