Cytosine DNA methylation (5mC) is a widespread base modification in eukaryotic genomes
with critical roles in transcriptional regulation. In recent years, our understanding of 5mC has …

Genomic imprinting, a process of epigenetic modification which allows the gene to be
expressed in a parent-of-origin specific manner, has an essential role in normal growth and …

Two waves of DNA methylation reprogramming occur during mammalian embryogenesis;
during preimplantation development and during primordial germ cell (PGC) formation …

Dramatic nuclear reorganization occurs during early development to convert terminally
differentiated gametes to a totipotent zygote, which then gives rise to an embryo. Aberrant …

The origin story and emergence of molecular biology is muddled. The early triumphs in
bacterial genetics and the complexity of animal and plant genomes complicate an intricate …

The fertilized mouse egg actively demethylates the paternal genome within a few hours after
fertilization, whereas the maternal genome is only passively demethylated by a replication …

Epigenetic processes affect three stages of germline development, namely (1) specification
and formation of primordial germ cells and their germline derivatives through lineage …

A correlation between DNA methylation and transcriptional silencing has existed for many
years. Recently, substantial progress has been reported in the search for proteins that …

Fig. 1 Epigenetic silencing and epigenetic activation. A maternally repressed gene is
maternally methylated and thereby silenced. A paternally repressed gene is silenced by an …

In mammals, active demethylation of sperm pronuclear DNA shortly after fertilisation is
thought to be important for reprogramming subsequent embryonic development [1–3]. A …