Embryonic transcription is controlled by maternally defined chromatin state
Saartje Hontelez, Ila van Kruijsbergen, Georgios Georgiou, Simon J. van Heeringen, Ozren Bogdanovic, Ryan Lister & Gert Jan C. Veenstra
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Nature Communications 6, Article number: 10148 doi:10.1038/ncomms10148
Received 12 May 2015 Accepted 10 November 2015 Published 18 December 2015
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Abstract
Histone-modifying enzymes are required for cell identity and lineage commitment, however little is known about the regulatory origins of the epigenome during embryonic development. Here we generate a comprehensive set of epigenome reference maps, which we use to determine the extent to which maternal factors shape chromatin state in Xenopus embryos. Using α-amanitin to inhibit zygotic transcription, we find that the majority of H3K4me3- and H3K27me3-enriched regions form a maternally defined epigenetic regulatory space with an underlying logic of hypomethylated islands. This maternal regulatory space extends to a substantial proportion of neurula stage-activated promoters. In contrast, p300 recruitment to distal regulatory regions requires embryonic transcription at most loci. The results show that H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 are part of a regulatory space that exerts an extended maternal control well into post-gastrulation development, and highlight the combinatorial action of maternal and zygotic factors through proximal and distal regulatory sequences.
Subject terms: Biological sciences Developmental biology Molecular biology
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