Table of Contents

Part I Medical Aspects and Questions Raised on the Molecular Basis of Epigenome Involvement in Reproduction

1 Potential Epigenetic Consequences Associated with Assisted Reproduction Amanda Fortier Jacquetta Trasler 3

2 Germ Cell Cancer, Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome and Epigenetics Kristian Almstrup Olga Mlynarska Ewa Rajpert-De Meyts 19

3 Medical Implications of Sperm Nuclear Quality Rafael Oliva Sara de Mateo 45

4 Gene Expression/Phenotypic Abnormalities in Placental Tissues of Sheep Clones: Insurmountable Block in Cloning Progress? Pasqualino Loi Grazyna Ptak 85

Part II Fundamental Aspects of Genome and Epigenome Reprogramming During Gametogenesis

5 Epigenetic Reprogramming Associated with Primordial Germ Cell Development Yoshiyuki Seki 99

6 Epigenetic Factors and Regulation of Meiotic Recombination in Mammals P. Barthès J. Buard B. de Massy 119

7 Meiotic Pairing of Homologous Chromosomes and Silencing of Heterologous Regions Sam Schoenmakers Willy M. Baarends 157

8 Histone Variants during Gametogenesis and Early Development P. de Boer M. de Vries S. Gochhait 187

9 Genome Organization by Vertebrate Sperm Nuclear Basic Proteins (SNBPs) Juan Ausió Laurence R. Brewer Lindsay Frehlick 213

10 Epigenetics in Male Reproduction: A Practical Introduction to the Informatics of Next Generation Sequencing Adrian E. Platts Claudia Lalancette Stephen A. Krawetz 231

Part III Re-organization of Nuclear Compartments During Gametogenesis

11 Organization of Chromosomes During Spermatogenesis and in Mature Sperm Olga Mudrak Irina Zalenskaya Andrei Zalensky 261

12 Nuclear Lamins in Mammalian Spermatogenesis Manfred Alsheimer Daniel Jahn Sabine Schramm Ricardo Benavente 279

Part IV Fundamental Aspects of Gene Expression Regulation During Gametogenesis

13 Specific Transcription Regulatory Mechanisms of Male Germ Cells Irwin Davidson 291

14 The Chromatoid Body: A Specialized RNA Granule of Male Germ Cells Ippei Nagamori Adam Cruickshank Paolo Sassone-Corsi 311

15 Sperm RNA: Reading the Hidden Message David Miller 329

Glossary 355

Index 369