Epigenetic Mechanisms Governing Female and Male Germline Development in Mammals.

Investigation of the roles of chromatin modifying enzymes and the interplay between the chromatin marks that they deposit in germ cells has been facilitated by analyses of conventional or germline-specific knockout mice, combined with low-input genome-wide profiling methods that have been developed in recent years. While clearly informative, these findings generally reflect "snapshots" of chromatin states derived from analyses of cells analyzed in bulk at a specific period in development. Technological advances and novel experimental models will be required to further refine our understanding of the underlying mechanism and order of establishment of chromatin marks and the impact of sexually dimorphic epigenetic patterning on transcription and other nuclear processes in germ cells, the early embryo and beyond.