Leveraging species specificity to gain molecular insights into fertilization and the timing of zygotic genome activation

Date

Nov 20, 2023

Time

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Speaker

Krista R.B. Gert

Affiliation

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria

Language

en

Main Topic

Biologie

Host

Claudia Gerri

Description

Gametic compatibility between different species is determined by the species specificity of their sperm and egg surface proteins, ultimately enabling or preventing hybridization. The egg membrane protein Bouncer is both necessary and sufficient for species-specific fertilization in medaka and zebrafish: changing only Bouncer on one species’ egg allows fertilization by the sperm of the other. Leveraging this specificity, we uncovered distinct amino acid residues and N-glycosylation patterns that differentially influence the function of medaka and zebrafish Bouncer and contribute to cross-species incompatibility. Equipped with novel Bouncer-mediated hybrids between medaka and zebrafish, we further explored how the timing of zygotic genome activation (ZGA) is regulated, given the 5-hour difference in ZGA onset in these species. Combining transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility profiling, and proteomics, we demonstrated maternal cytoplasmic dominance of ZGA timing and identified a potential novel regulator of vertebrate ZGA in medaka that may contribute to species-specific ZGA onset

Last modified: Nov 21, 2023, 7:40:29 AM