The PcG gene Sfmbt2 is paternally expressed in extraembryonic tissues

Genomic imprinting has dramatic effects on placental development, as has been clearly observed in interspecific hybrid, somatic cell nuclear transfer, and uniparental embryos. In fact, the earliest defects in uniparental embryos are evident first in the extraembryonic trophoblast. We performed a microarray comparison of gynogenetic and androgenetic mouse blastocysts, which are predisposed to placental pathologies, to identify imprinted genes. In addition to identifying a large number of known imprinted genes, we discovered that the Polycomb group (PcG) gene Sfmbt2 is imprinted. Sfmbt2 is expressed preferentially from the paternal allele in early embryos, and in later stage extraembryonic tissues. A CpG island spanning the transcriptional start site is differentially methylated on the maternal allele in e14.5 placenta. Sfmbt2 is located on proximal chromosome 2, in a region known to be imprinted, but for which no genes had been identified until now. This possibly identifies a new imprinted domain within the murine genome. We further demonstrate that murine SFMBT2 protein interacts with the transcription factor YY1, similar to the Drosophila PHO-RC.