The oocyte is remarkable in its ability to remodel the parental genomes following fertilization and to reprogram somatic nuclei as in nuclear transfer. While significant research has been carried out on DNA methylation patterns in the early embryo, increased interest in histone acetylation is more recent. The objective of this study was to characterize the pattern of acetylation of histone H4 lysine-5 (H4L5) and lysine-8 (H4L8) in the early pre-implantation bovine embryo. Bovine embryos were produced as previously described (Fouladi Nashta AA et al., 1998 Biol. Rep. 59, 255–262) and collected at different developmental stages, 1-cell (20 h), 2-cell (30 h), 4- and 8-cell (Day 2), 16-cell (Day 4), and blastocyst (Days 7–8) with an average of 6 embryos per group in two replicates. Embryos were fixed in 2.5% paraformaldehyde, 15 min at room temperature (RT), stained with polyclonal rabbit antibodies against H4L5 (1 : 800) and H4L8 (1 : 600) residues (Serotec, UK) at 4°C overnight. A polyclonal swine anti-rabbit (1 : 200; Dako, Denmark) was used as secondary antibody for 40 min at RT. Images were examined using a fluorescent microscope (Leica DMR, Germany). Image analysis and quantification were performed using Simple PCI software (Compix Imaging Systems, USA). Changes in intensities within and between different embryo stages were recorded as a ratio of red stain to blue counterstain. Data were corrected for confounding area and absorbance and analysed using a multivariate linear regression model. The intensity of staining for H4L5 appeared higher in 8-cell embryos than 2- and 4-cell embryos but not to a significant level (P ≥ 0.05); 8-cell embryos also appeared higher in stain intensity than 16-cell but of borderline significance (P = 0.073). Staining intensity decreased between the 8-cell and blastocyst stage (P ≤ 0.05). In contrast, the intensity of acetylation staining for H4L8 residue decreased slightly between the 1- and 4-cell stages and then decreased significantly between the 4- and 8-cell stages (P ≤ 0.05), increasing significantly by the 16-cell stage (P ≤ 0.05). A significant decrease in staining intensity was observed at the blastocyst stage (P ≤ 0.05). In blastocyst-stage embryos both lysine-5 and lysine-8 showed a differential staining of inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cells. ICM cells showed intense staining and TE cells stained very weakly. The intensity results presented are cumulative of ICM and TE intensities, which explains the overall low levels of acetylation in blastocysts when compared to the earlier stages. Acetylation of H4L5 starts high in 1-cell embryo, as it is necessary for protamine replacement (Adenot et al., 1997 Development 124, 4615–4625), decreases when methylation is high and increases when methylation is low (as in the 8-cell stage which corresponds with zygotic gene activation). Acetylation of H4L8 decreases between the 1-and 8-cell stages; however, its association with changes in DNA methylation has yet to be determined.