To study whether changes in methylation of DNA are related to the structural and functional changes that chromatin undergoes throughout rooster spermatogenenis, we analyzed, by high-performance liquid chromatography, the 5-methylcytosine content of DNA purified from rooster testis cell nuclei at successive stages of the cell differentiation process. The DNA of meiotic and postmeiotic cells appears partially under-methylated, containing approximately 30% less methylcytosines than the DNA obtained from premeiotic and somatic cells.