(Submitter supplied) Understanding the extent of genomic transcription and its functional relevance is a central goal in genomics research. However, detailed genome‐wide investigations of transcriptome complexities in major mammalian organs and their underlying cellular sources, transcriptional mechanisms, and functional relevance have been scarce. Here we first show, using extensive RNA‐seq data, that transcription of both functional and nonfunctional genomic elements is substantially more widespread in the testis than in other organs across representative mammals. By scrutinizing the transcriptomes of all main testicular cell types in the mouse, we then reveal that meiotic spermatocytes and especially post‐meiotic round spermatids have remarkably diverse transcriptomes, which explains the high transcriptome complexity of the testis as a whole. The widespread transcriptional activity in spermatocytes and spermatids encompasses protein‐coding genes and long noncoding RNA genes but also poorly conserved intergenic sequences, suggesting that much of it is not of immediate functional relevance. Rather, our analyses of genome‐wide epigenetic data show that this prevalent transcription, which apparently promoted the birth of new genes during evolution, results from a highly permissive chromatin state during and after meiosis that may ultimately facilitate the replacement of histones by protamines during late spermatogenesis.
more...- Organism:
- Mus musculus
- Type:
- Methylation profiling by high throughput sequencing; Genome binding/occupancy profiling by high throughput sequencing
- Platform:
- GPL11002
- 10 Samples
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