H3K79 methylation: a new conserved mark that accompanies H4 hyperacetylation prior to histone-to-protamine transition in Drosophila and rat.
Dottermusch-Heidel, C; Gärtner, SM; Tegeder, I; Rathke, C; Barckmann, B; Bartkuhn, M; Bhushan, S; Steger, K; Meinhardt, A; Renkawitz-Pohl, R
Biology open
3
444-52
2014
Show Abstract
During spermiogenesis, haploid spermatids undergo extensive chromatin remodeling events in which histones are successively replaced by more basic protamines to generate highly compacted chromatin. Here we show for the first time that H3K79 methylation is a conserved feature preceding the histone-to-protamine transition in Drosophila melanogaster and rat. During Drosophila spermatogenesis, the Dot1-like methyltransferase Grappa (Gpp) is primarily expressed in canoe stage nuclei. The corresponding H3K79 methylation is a histone modification that precedes the histone-to-protamine transition and correlates with histone H4 hyperacetylation. When acetylation was inhibited in cultured Drosophila testes, nuclei were smaller and chromatin was compact, Gpp was little synthesized, H3K79 methylation was strongly reduced, and protamines were not synthesized. The Gpp isoform Gpp-D has a unique C-terminus, and Gpp is essential for full fertility. In rat, H3K79 methylation also correlates with H4 hyperacetylation but not with active RNA polymerase II, which might point towards a conserved function in chromatin remodeling during the histone-to-protamine transition in both Drosophila and rat. | 24795146
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Drosophila protamine-like Mst35Ba and Mst35Bb are required for proper sperm nuclear morphology but are dispensable for male fertility.
Tirmarche, S; Kimura, S; Sapey-Triomphe, L; Sullivan, W; Landmann, F; Loppin, B
G3 (Bethesda, Md.)
4
2241-5
2014
Show Abstract
During spermiogenesis, histones are massively replaced with protamines. A previous report showed that Drosophila males homozygous for a genomic deletion covering several genes including the protamine-like genes Mst35Ba/b are surprisingly fertile. Here, we have precisely deleted the Mst35B locus by homologous recombination, and we confirm the dispensability of Mst35Ba/b for fertility. | 25236732
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