Background: Environmental factors such as pesticides can cause phenotypic changes in various organisms, including mammals. We studied the effects of the widely used herbicide atrazine (ATZ) on meiosis, a key step of gametogenesis, in male mice. Methods: Gene expression pattern was analysed by Gene-Chip array. Genome-wide mapping of H3K4me3 marks distribution was done by ChIP-sequencing of testis tissue using Illumina technologies. RT-qPCR was used to validate differentially expressed genes or differential peaks. Results: We demonstrate that exposure to ATZ reduces testosterone levels and the number of spermatozoa in the epididymis and delays meiosis. Using Gene-Chip and ChIP-Seq analysis of H3K4me3 marks, we found that a broad range of cellular functions, including GTPase activity, mitochondrial function and steroid-hormone metabolism, are affected by ATZ. Furthermore, treated mice display enriched histone H3K4me3 marks in regions of strong recombination (double-strand break sites), within very large genes and reduced marks in the pseudoautosomal region of X chromosome. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that atrazine exposure interferes with normal meiosis, which affects spermatozoa production.
CITATION STYLE
Gely-Pernot, A., Hao, C., Becker, E., Stuparevic, I., Kervarrec, C., Chalmel, F., … Smagulova, F. (2015). The epigenetic processes of meiosis in male mice are broadly affected by the widely used herbicide atrazine. BMC Genomics, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-2095-y
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