Histone methylation, as an important epigenetic modification, plays a critical role in gene expression regulation as well as in the first cell fate determination during pre-implantation development. Low input new-generation sequencing provides us a reliable method to assess genome-wide histone modification reprogramming with high resolution using a very small number of cells. In this article we review the current advances of histone modification dynamics during pre-implantation development obtained through low-input sequencing technologies. Particularly, we highlight the establishment and dynamic of histone H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 modifications during zygotic genome activation and the first lineage differentiation. These advances have shed light on the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation network controlling early development and differentiation.

pre-implantation embryos  /  histone modification  /  bivalent genes  /  low input sequencing