Maternal Transcripts (maternal + transcript)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Identification of germ plasm-associated transcripts by microarray analysis of Xenopus vegetal cortex RNA

DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 6 2010
Tawny N. Cuykendall
Abstract RNA localization is a common mechanism for regulating cell structure and function. Localized RNAs in Xenopus oocytes are critical for early development, including germline specification by the germ plasm. Despite the importance of these localized RNAs, only approximately 25 have been identified and fewer are functionally characterized. Using microarrays, we identified a large set of localized RNAs from the vegetal cortex. Overall, our results indicate a minimum of 275 localized RNAs in oocytes, or 2,3% of maternal transcripts, which are in general agreement with previous findings. We further validated vegetal localization for 24 candidates and further characterized three genes expressed in the germ plasm. We identified novel germ plasm expression for reticulon 3.1, exd2 (a novel exonuclease-domain encoding gene), and a putative noncoding RNA. Further analysis of these and other localized RNAs will likely identify new functions of germ plasm and facilitate the identification of cis -acting RNA localization elements. Developmental Dynamics 239:1838,1848, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Ontogeny of energy homeostatic pathways via neuroendocrine signaling in Atlantic salmon

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 9 2010
Anne-Grethe Gamst Moen
Abstract Leptin and ghrelin are known to regulate energy homeostasis via hypothalamic neuropeptide signaling in mammals. Recent studies have discovered that these hormones exist in teleosts, however, very little is known concerning their role during teleost ontogeny. Here, we have examined the steady state levels of leptins, ghrelins, their target neuropetides and several growth factors during Atlantic salmon development. Initial experiments revealed differential expression of leptin genes and ghrelin isoforms during embryogenesis. In larvae, equal upregulation of ghrl1 and ghrl2 was observed just prior to exogenous feeding while a surge of lepa1 occurred one week after first-feeding. Subsequent dissection of the embryos and larvae showed that lepa1, cart, pomca1, and agrp are supplied as maternal transcripts. The earliest zygotic expression was observed for lepa1 and cart at 320 day degrees. By 400 day degrees, this expression was localized to the head and coincided with upregulation of ghrl2 and npy. Over the hatching period growth factor signaling predominated. The ghrelin surge prior to first-feeding was exclusively localized in the internal organs and coincided with upregulation of npy and agrp in the head and agrp in the trunk. One week after exogenous feeding was established major peaks were detected in the head for lepa1 and pomca1 with increasing levels of cart, while lepa1 was also significantly expressed in the trunk. By integrating theses data into an ontogenetic model, we suggest that the mediation of Atlantic salmon energy homeostatic pathways via endocrine and neuropeptide signaling retains putative features of the mammalian system. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 70: 649,658, 2010 [source]


Isolation and characterization of a novel Xenopus gene (xVAP019) encoding a DUF1208 domain containing protein

MOLECULAR REPRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 12 2007
Xu Zhi Ruan
Abstract We have identified a novel Xenopus gene (xVAP019) encoding a DUF1208 domain containing protein. Using whole-mount in situ hybridization and RT-PCR, we found abundant xVAP019 maternal transcripts in the animal hemisphere during the cleavage stages and blastula stages. During gastrulation xVAP019 is differentially expressed with higher levels in the animal helf and the highest in marginal zone, then further expressed widely at neuronal stages with strongest signals in the prospective CNS regions and the epidermal ectoderm. Subsequently xVAP019 was expressed predominantly in the head, the eyes, the otic vesicle, branchial arches, spinal cord, notochord, somites, and tailbud. It is absent or very weak in the endoderm. Injecting a morpholino oligo complementary to xVAP019 mRNA or injecting a caped xVAP019 mRNA caused most of embryos to die during gastrulation and neurulation. Overexpression of xVAP019 mRNA also led to eye defect, shorten interocular distance, small body size and abnormal pigment formation in parts of the survival embryos. Similar effects were induced by injecting the xVAP019 human homologous gene FAM92A1. Our results suggest that xVAP019 is essential for the normal ectoderm and axis mesoderm differentiation and embryos survival. This investigation is for the first time in vivo study examining the role of this novel gene and reveals an important role of xVAP019 in embryonic development. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 74: 1505,1513, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Changes of maternal transcripts in oocytes from persistent follicles in cattle

MOLECULAR REPRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2007
Brandon M. Lingenfelter
Abstract A high incidence of early embryonic loss is associated with prolonged dominance of follicles. The objective of the present experiment was to determine if persistence of a follicle resulted in alterations in mRNA expression of important genes in the oocyte. Cows were assigned to four groups: growing follicles on day 6 (G0h) or day 8 (G48h) and persistent follicles on day 13 (P0h) or day 15 (P48h) of the estrous cycle (estrus,=,day 0). All cows were super-stimulated on day 1,4. Cows in G48h, P0h, and P48h groups received 25 mg prostaglandin (PG) F2, on day 6. Cows in P0h and P48h groups received progesterone from CIDR-B devices on day 5 through 13. Ovaries of cows in G0h, G48h, P0h, and P48h groups were removed on day 6, 8, 13, and 15, respectively. Oocytes were aspirated immediately after colpotomy and denuded of cumulus cells. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the mRNA abundances of 10 selected genes important for early embryogenesis in oocytes obtained from growing and persistent follicles. Relative abundances of MSY2, PARN, and YY1 mRNA (P,<,0.05) were significantly lower in oocytes from persistent than from growing follicles. Oocytes from persistent follicles, however, had greater abundances of PAP and eIF-4E transcripts (P,<,0.05). The data indicate that persistence of a follicle leads to altered abundances of mRNA for genes important for regulation of transcription and protein translation in the oocyte, which could compromise development of early embryos in cows that ovulate a persistent follicle. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Specific maternal transcripts in bovine oocytes and cleavaged embryos: Identification with novel DDRT-PCR methods

MOLECULAR REPRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2005
Kyu-Chan Hwang
Abstract We used annealing control primer (ACP)-based differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) to isolate differentially expressed amplicons in bovine germinal vesicle (GV) stage oocytes, 8-cell stage embryos produced in vitro, and blastocyst stage embryos produced in vitro. Four expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of genes that were specifically and predominantly expressed in GV oocytes were cloned and sequenced. We have used a fluorescence monitored real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) to quantify and analyzed the temporal expression of the target differentially expressed transcripts throughout the preimplantation stages from oocytes to blastocysts. The cloned genes or ESTs all exhibited significant sequence similarity with known bovine genes (98%,100%; DNCL1 and ZP2) or ESTs (81%,97%; FANK1 and GTL3) of other species. As revealed by real-time qRT-PCR, DNCL1, FANK1, GTL3, and ZP2 transcripts were observed in the GV stage oocytes and expression gradually decreased up to the 8-cell stage embryo and the transcripts were not detected in later stages. Similarly, upregulation was observed in GV stage mouse oocytes and metaphase II, suggesting that these four differentially expressed orthologous genes play important roles in early preimplantation, as maternally-derived transcripts. Mol. Reprod. Dev. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]