Molecular characterization and epigenetic regulation of Mei1 in cattle and cattle–yak

• The full length of cattle bMei1 gene was cloned and characterized.
• We analyzed the expression of bMei1 in cattle and cattle–yak.
• The methylation status of CpG islands in bMei1 was measured in cattle and cattle–yak.
• The expression of bMei1 was upregulated by 5-Aza-CdR in BMECs.

Mei1 is required for the homologous recombination of meiosis during the mammalian spermatogenesis. However, the knowledge about bovine Mei1 (bMei1) is still limited. In the present study, we cloned and characterized the bMei1, and investigated the epigenetic regulatory mechanism of bMei1 expression in vivo and in vitro. The full length coding region of bMei1 was 3819 bp, which encoded a polypeptide of 1272 amino acids. Real-time PCR showed that the mRNA expression level of bMei1 in the testis of cattle–yak with meiotic arrest and male infertility was significantly decreased as compared with cattle (P < 0.01). Conversely, the methylation levels of bMei1 promoter and gene body in the testis of cattle–yak were significantly increased. Additionally, the expression level of bMei1 in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) was activated by treatment with the methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-2′ deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR). Our data suggest that bMei1 may play an important role in the meiosis of spermatogenesis and may be involved in cattle–yak male sterility, and its transcription was regulated by DNA methylation.