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Slide Preparation Method to Preserve Three-dimensional Chromatin Architecture of Testicular Germ Cells
Published on: January 10, 2014
Histone removal in sperm protects paternal chromosomes from premature division at fertilization
Raphaëlle Dubruille1, Marion Herbette1, Maxime Revel1
1Laboratoire de Biologie et Modélisation de la Cellule, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5239, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
Abstract:
The global replacement of histones with protamines in sperm chromatin is widespread in animals, including insects, but its actual function remains enigmatic. We show that in the Drosophila paternal effect mutant paternal loss (pal), sperm chromatin retains germline histones H3 and H4 genome wide without impairing sperm viability. However, after fertilization, pal sperm chromosomes are targeted by the egg chromosomal passenger complex and engage into a catastrophic premature division in synchrony with female meiosis II. We show that pal encodes a rapidly evolving transition protein specifically required for the eviction of (H3-H4)2 tetramers from spermatid DNA after the removal of H2A-H2B dimers. Our study thus reveals an unsuspected role of histone eviction from insect sperm chromatin: safeguarding the integrity of the male pronucleus during female meiosis.
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