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Epigenomes
Volume 3
Issue 4
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Epigenomes, Volume 3, Issue 4 (December 2019) – 1 article

Cover Story (view full-size image): A pair of monozygotic twin artificial insemination (AI) Holstein bulls in China shared identical genetics and very similar appearances, but with discordant (Bull1 performed better than Bull2) sperm qualities and daughters’ fertility performance (~6000 daughters per bull). We wondered whether epigenetic modifications in their sperm cells contributed to the differences. By investigating the DNA methylomes and transcriptomes of the sperm cells, we observed higher global sperm methylation levels in Bull1 than in Bull2 and highlighted several fertility-related genes that were potentially epigenetically regulated. The results provided new insights into the influences of AI bull sperm methylomes on offspring fertility. View this paper.
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18 pages, 2883 KiB  
Article
Divergence Analyses of Sperm DNA Methylomes between Monozygotic Twin AI Bulls
by Shuli Liu, Siqian Chen, Wentao Cai, Hongwei Yin, Aoxing Liu, Yanhua Li, George E. Liu, Yachun Wang, Ying Yu and Shengli Zhang
Epigenomes 2019, 3(4), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/epigenomes3040021 - 26 Sep 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5965
Abstract
Semen quality is critical for fertility. However, it is easily influenced by environmental factors and can induce subfertility in the next generations. Here, we aimed to assess the impacts of differentially methylated regions and genes on semen quality and offspring fertility. A specific [...] Read more.
Semen quality is critical for fertility. However, it is easily influenced by environmental factors and can induce subfertility in the next generations. Here, we aimed to assess the impacts of differentially methylated regions and genes on semen quality and offspring fertility. A specific pair of monozygotic (MZ) twin artificial insemination (AI) Holstein bulls with moderately different sperm qualities (Bull1 > Bull2) was used in the study, and each twin bull had produced ~6000 recorded daughters nationwide in China. Using whole genome bisulfite sequencing, we profiled the landscape of the twin bulls’ sperm methylomes, and we observed markedly higher sperm methylation levels in Bull1 than in Bull2. Furthermore, we found 528 differentially methylated regions (DMR) between the MZ twin bulls, which spanned or overlapped with 309 differentially methylated genes (DMG). These DMG were particularly associated with embryo development, organ development, reproduction, and the nervous system. Several DMG were also shown to be differentially expressed in the sperm cells. Moreover, the significant differences in DNA methylation on gene INSL3 between the MZ twin bulls were confirmed at three different age points. Our results provided new insights into the impacts of AI bull sperm methylomes on offspring fertility. Full article
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