The spermatozoa and oocyte are very specialized cells which possess the unique ability to
fuse and to produce an embryo. This embryo will develop into a mature organism capable of …

Ethanol exposure during gestation is an early life stressor that profoundly dysregulates
structure and functions of the embryonal nervous system, altering the cognitive and …

Methylation of cytosines in the CG context (mCG) is the most abundant DNA modification in
vertebrates that plays crucial roles in cellular differentiation and identity. After fertilization …

Although developments in mammalian in vitro embryo technologies have allowed many new
clinical and agricultural achievement!, their application has been hindered by limitations in …

Environmental epigenetics is a rapidly growing field which studies the effects of
environmental factors such as nutrition, stress, and exposure to compounds on epigenetic …

In Xenopus laevis zygotic transcription begins at the midblastula transition (MBT). Prior to
this the genome is organized into chromatin that facilitates rapid cycles of DNA replication …

Epigenetic modification of plant gene and transposon activity, which correlates with their
methylation, is often heritable over many generations. Such heritable properties allow …

With the exception of lymphocytes, the various cell types in a higher multicellular organism
have basically an identical genotype but are functionally and morphologically different. This …

The epigenetic phenomenon of genomic imprinting occurs among both plants and animals.
In species where imprinting is observed, there are parent-of-origin effects on the expression …

In mammals, active demethylation of cytosine methylation in the sperm genome prior to
forming a functional zygotic nucleus is thought to be a function of the oocyte cytoplasm …