DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that plays a crucial role in normal mammalian development, retrotransposon silencing, and cellular reprogramming. Although methylation mainly occurs on the cytosine in a CG site, non-CG methylation is prevalent in pluripotent stem cells, brain, and oocytes. We previously identified non-CG methylation in several CG-rich regions in mouse germinal vesicle oocytes (GVOs), but the overall distribution of non-CG methylation and the enzymes responsible for this modification are unknown. Using amplification-free whole-genome bisulfite sequencing, which can be used with minute amounts of DNA, we constructed the base-resolution methylome maps of GVOs, non-growing oocytes (NGOs), and mutant GVOs lacking the DNA methyltransferase Dnmt1, Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b, or Dnmt3L. We found that nearly two-thirds of all methylcytosines occur in a non-CG context in GVOs. The distribution of non-CG methylation closely resembled that of CG methylation throughout the genome and showed clear enrichment in gene bodies. Compared to NGOs, GVOs were over four times more methylated at non-CG sites, indicating that non-CG methylation accumulates during oocyte growth. Lack of Dnmt3a or Dnmt3L resulted in a global reduction in both CG and non-CG methylation, showing that non-CG methylation depends on the Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L complex. Dnmt3b was dispensable. Of note, lack of Dnmt1 resulted in a slight decrease in CG methylation, suggesting that this maintenance enzyme plays a role in non-dividing oocytes. Dnmt1 may act on CG sites that remain hemimethylated in the de novo methylation process. Our results provide a basis for understanding the mechanisms and significance of non-CG methylation in mammalian oocytes.

DNA methylation plays a key role in epigenetic regulation of eukaryotic genomes. Hence the genome-wide distribution of 5-methylcytosine, or the methylome, has been attracting intense attention. In recent years, whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) has enabled methylome analysis at single-base resolution. However, WGBS typically requires microgram quantities of DNA as well as global PCR amplification, thereby precluding its application to samples of limited amounts. This is presumably because bisulfite treatment of adaptor-tagged templates, which is inherent to current WGBS methods, leads to substantial DNA fragmentation. To circumvent the bisulfite-induced loss of intact sequencing templates, we conceived an alternative method termed Post-Bisulfite Adaptor Tagging (PBAT) wherein bisulfite treatment precedes adaptor tagging by two rounds of random primer extension. The PBAT method can generate a substantial number of unamplified reads from as little as subnanogram quantities of DNA. It requires only 100 ng of DNA for amplification-free WGBS of mammalian genomes. Thus, the PBAT method will enable various novel applications that would not otherwise be possible, thereby contributing to the rapidly growing field of epigenomics.

Dynamic epigenetic reprogramming occurs during mammalian germ cell development, although the targets of this process, including DNA demethylation and de novo methylation, remain poorly understood. We performed genomewide DNA methylation analysis in male and female mouse primordial germ cells at embryonic days 10.5, 13.5, and 16.5 by whole-genome shotgun bisulfite sequencing. Our high-resolution DNA methylome maps demonstrated gender-specific differences in CpG methylation at genome-wide and gene-specific levels during fetal germline progression. There was extensive intra-and intergenic hypomethylation with erasure of methylation marks at imprinted, X-linked, or germlinespecific genes during gonadal sex determination and partial methylation at particular retrotransposons. Following global demethylation and sex determination, CpG sites switched to de novo methylation in males, but the X-linked genes appeared resistant to the wave of de novo methylation. Significant differential methylation at a subset of imprinted loci was identified in both genders, and non-CpG methylation occurred only in male gonocytes. Our data establish the basis for future studies on the role of epigenetic modifications in germline development and other biological processes.