Broad histone H3K4me3 domains in mouse oocytes modulate maternal-to-zygotic transition

Maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) is essential for the formation of a new individual, but is still poorly understood despite recent progress in analysis of gene expression and DNA methylation in early embryogenesis1–9. Dynamic histone modifications may have important roles in MZT10–13, but direct measurements of chromatin states have been hindered by technical difficulties in profiling histone modifications from small quantities of cells. Recent improvements allow for 500 cell-equivalents of chromatin per reaction, but require 10,000 cells for initial steps14 or require a highly specialized microfluidics device that is not readily available15. We developed a micro-scale chromatin immunoprecipitation and sequencing (μChlP-seq) method, which we used to profile genome-wide histone H3 lysine methylation (H3K4me3) and acetylation (H3K27ac) in mouse immature and metaphase II oocytes and in 2-cell and 8-cell embryos. Notably, we show that ~22% of the oocyte genome is associated with broad H3K4me3 domains that are anti-correlated with DNA methylation. The H3K4me3 signal becomes confined to transcriptional-start-site regions in 2-cell embryos, concomitant with the onset of major zygotic genome activation. Active removal of broad H3K4me3 domains by the lysine demethylases KDM5A and KDM5B is required for normal zygotic genome activation and is essential for early embryo development. Our results provide insight into the onset of the developmental program in mouse embryos and demonstrate a role for broad H3K4me3 domains in MZT.