DNA hydroxymethylome in mouse germline cells

In mammals, DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine is implicated in DNA methylation reprogramming during mouse early embryos development. However, the extent of 5hmC in participating in genome-wide methylation reprogramming remains largely unknown, due to the still lack of base resolution map of this modification in early embryos. Here, we illustrated landscapes of 5hmC in mouse preimplantation embryos, post implantation epiblast, primordial germ cells and gametes, thus providing detailed analysis across key developmental stages. In addition, the dynamics of 5hmC were tracked through parental-allele specific manner, which painted the differences in genome-wide 5hmC between maternal and paternal genomes. By combination with mouse models and chemical approaches, factors that influenced the characteristics of genomic 5hmC were further evaluated. In summary, our work provides invaluable resources and insights for the study of epigenetic regulation in development.