Germline development articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors show that a high-fat diet in pregnant mice can release silencing of the imprinted Dlk1 locus in multiple generations of offspring. They found that this occurs via changes in microRNA expression at the locus of interest, as well as transcriptional changes across the genome, in the developing oocytes.

    • Mathew Van de Pette
    • , Andrew Dimond
    •  & Amanda G. Fisher

  • Article
    | Open Access

    CEP128 is a centrosomal protein important for the organization of centriolar microtubules. Here, the authors show that a CEP128 variant observed in human male siblings causes reduced sperm counts and morphologically abnormal sperm when modeled in mice, suggesting a role for CEP128 in male fertility.

    • Xueguang Zhang
    • , Lingbo Wang
    •  & Ying Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transcription factor network required for primordial germ cell (PGC) specification is known to diverge in mammals. Here the authors show that hominidae-specific transposable element (TE) LTR5Hs becomes transcriptionally active during PGC specification, and LTR5Hs inactivation abrogates human PGC specification

    • Xinyu Xiang
    • , Yu Tao
    •  & Amander T. Clark

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Kim et al. show noradrenergic signaling for stress responses such as flight and fight, also serves as a conserved signal for maintaining oocyte quiescence under unfavorable conditions in worms, flies, and fish.

    • Jeongho Kim
    • , Moonjung Hyun
    •  & Young-Jai You

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Notch receptor GLP-1 is required for maintaining germ cells in the C. elegans germline. Here the authors show that syndecan-1, a somatic transmembrane proteoglycan regulates expression of glp-1 and germ cell mitosis in C. elegans, by promoting calcium-dependent binding of APTF-2 to the glp-1 promoter.

    • Sandeep Gopal
    • , Aqilah Amran
    •  & Roger Pocock

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mammalian SWI/SNF nucleosome remodeler is required for spermatogenesis. Here, the authors show that PBAF is essential for meiotic cell division in males and required to activate the expression of critical genes involved in spindle assembly and nuclear division in spermatocytes.

    • Debashish U. Menon
    • , Oleksandr Kirsanov
    •  & Terry Magnuson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chromosome segregation is essential to avoid aneuploidy, yet in mammalian oocytes it progressively fails in an age-dependent manner. Here the authors identify CENP-V as a microtubule binding and bundling protein crucial to faithful oocyte meiosis, and present Cenp-V−/− oocytes as revealing age-dependent weakening of the spindle assembly checkpoint.

    • Dalileh Nabi
    • , Hauke Drechsler
    •  & Mariola Chacón

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While inductive signals controlling germline specification are well characterized, the intrinsic factors that allow epiblast cells to respond to such signals remain largely unknown. Here the authors use in vitro differentiated primordial germ cells to show that partial retention of histone H3K4 monomethylation within relevant enhancers is important for germline competence and specification.

    • Tore Bleckwehl
    • , Giuliano Crispatzu
    •  & Álvaro Rada-Iglesias

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules are responsible for mRNA transport and local translation required for neuronal and oocyte maturation. Here the authors show that loss of the Drosophila Ub ligase Hecw enlarges RNP granules, leads to a liquid to gel-like transition, and results in defective oogenesis and neuronal loss.

    • Valentina Fajner
    • , Fabio Giavazzi
    •  & Simona Polo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The sperm head-to-tail coupling apparatus ensures sperm head-tail integrity, but mechanistic insights remain limited. Here the authors demonstrate that CENTLEIN links and controls the interaction between SUN5 and PMFBP1, indicating that its impairments might be associated with acephalic spermatozoa syndrome.

    • Ying Zhang
    • , Chao Liu
    •  & Li Yuan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whether the adult testis harbours a somatic progenitor population is unknown. Here, the authors provide evidence that the testis interstitial cells expressing the transcription factor Tcf21 maintain adult testis homeostasis during aging, and act as potential reserve somatic progenitors following injury.

    • Yu-chi Shen
    • , Adrienne Niederriter Shami
    •  & Saher Sue Hammoud

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although CTCF is a well-established 3D chromatin organizer in multicellular eukaryotes, relatively little is known about its male germ cell-specific paralogue, BORIS. Here the authors investigate how CTCF and BORIS interact and compensate in the male germline of mice to ensure appropriate activation of spermatogenesis-specific genes.

    • Samuel Rivero-Hinojosa
    • , Elena M. Pugacheva
    •  & Victor V. Lobanenkov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Telomeres attach to the nuclear envelope to facilitate homolog pairing during meiosis prophase I. Here, the authors show that SUN1 and SPDYA interact, and demonstrate that this interaction is important for telomere structure and function, and essential to mice gametogenesis.

    • Yanyan Chen
    • , Yan Wang
    •  & Ming Lei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Uncoupling of mature oocytes from somatic granulosa cells is required for their fertilization. Here the authors show that activation of EGFR signalling in granulosa cells during ovulation triggers ERK-dependent loss of filopodia oocyte adhesion, and Arp2/3 mediated retraction of granulosa cell filopodia.

    • Laleh Abbassi
    • , Stephany El-Hayek
    •  & Hugh J. Clarke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Piwi deficiency results in sterility and is associated with transposon expression and genomic instability. Here the authors show that sterility of C. elegans Piwi prg-1 mutant is not associated with transposon-induced DNA damage but is associated with and is phenocopied by dysfunction of germ granules.

    • Maya Spichal
    • , Bree Heestand
    •  & Shawn Ahmed

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The uptake of donor pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in hosts of different species and subsequent germline transmission is very inefficient. Here, the authors show, using Prdm14 gene depleted rat host blastocysts to remove functional sperm, that germline transmission from donor rat or mouse PSCs is possible.

    • Toshihiro Kobayashi
    • , Teppei Goto
    •  & Masumi Hirabayashi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nematode P granules are cytoplasmic RNA–protein biomolecule condensates central to germ cell development. Here the authors show that dimerization of the PGL-1 scaffolding protein is crucial to granule formation and mRNA repression, and that the WAGO-1 Argonaute protein is a cofactor in repressing PGL-1 bound mRNAs.

    • Scott Takeo Aoki
    • , Tina R. Lynch
    •  & Judith Kimble

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sex chromosome gene content and expression is unusual. Here the authors use single cell RNA-Seq on Drosophila larvae to demonstrate that the single X and pair of 4th chromosomes are specifically inactivated in primary spermatocytes, while genes on the single Y chromosome become maximally active in primary spermatocytes.

    • Sharvani Mahadevaraju
    • , Justin M. Fear
    •  & Brian Oliver

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Our understanding of how the germline of the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni develops is limited. Here, the authors use single cell RNAseq and functional genomic analysis of juvenile worms to identify a regulatory program that mediates the fate of germline stem cells between proliferation and differentiation.

    • Pengyang Li
    • , Dania Nanes Sarfati
    •  & Bo Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transcription factor p63 mediates different cellular responses affecting epithelial and oocyte biology. Here, the authors generate a mouse model (HET Δ13p63 mice) expressing the p63β isoform and show this affects ovary development, phenocopying a human syndrome, primary ovary insufficiency.

    • Anna Maria Lena
    • , Valerio Rossi
    •  & Eleonora Candi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dynamic arrangement of epigenetic modifications such as repressive H3K27 methylation is essential for zygote development. Here the authors show that establishment of genome-wide H3K27me3 in zygotes requires EZH2, that EZH1 partially compensates for EZH2 loss, and that EHMT1 is involved in H3K27me2 establishment.

    • Tie-Gang Meng
    • , Qian Zhou
    •  & Qing-Yuan Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During development, primordial germ cell clusters undergo dispersal but how cell–cell adhesion and contractility are coordinated during this process in vivo is unclear. Here, the authors show that Drosophila primordial germ cells utilize migratory forces to disperse through G-protein coupled receptor mediated collective guidance of front-back polarity outwards from the cluster.

    • B. Lin
    • , J. Luo
    •  & R. Lehmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The developmental origins and functions of testis macrophages remain incompletely characterized. Here, the authors show, using histology, high-dimensional mass cytometry and cell fate-mapping data, that interstitial and peritubular macrophages originate from distinct precursors and contribute distinctly to spermatogenesis.

    • Emmi Lokka
    • , Laura Lintukorpi
    •  & Marko Salmi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    MicroRNA2118 induces the production of phased small interfering RNAs (phaisRNAs) in plants. Here the authors show that rice miR2118 is required for both male and female fertility and supports the production of atypical U-rich 21 nt phasiRNAs that are abundant in anther walls.

    • Saori Araki
    • , Ngoc Tu Le
    •  & Reina Komiya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    PRDM14 is a critical transcription factor for mouse primordial germ cell specification, but its role in human remains unclear. Here, PRDM14 protein depletion using auxin-inducible degron uncovers a critical role for human germ cell specification, but regulation of a different set of target genes than in mouse.

    • Anastasiya Sybirna
    • , Walfred W. C. Tang
    •  & M. Azim Surani

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mammals lose up to 80% of their finite oocyte supply during fetal development. Here the authors interrogate mechanisms of fetal oocyte attrition in mice, driven by the simultaneous upregulation of LINE-1 retrotransposon activity and inhibit these mechanisms to increase the functional ovarian reserve.

    • Marla E. Tharp
    • , Safia Malki
    •  & Alex Bortvin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Songbirds have extensive germline–soma genome differences due to developmental elimination of a germline-specific chromosome (GRC). Here, the authors show that the GRC contains dozens of expressed developmental genes, some of which have been on the GRC since the ancestor of all songbirds.

    • Cormac M. Kinsella
    • , Francisco J. Ruiz-Ruano
    •  & Alexander Suh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Izumo and Juno are receptors on sperm and eggs respectively required for fusion, but other factors for sperm-egg fusion are poorly studied. Here, the authors report that phosphatidylserine, found mainly on cells marked for death, is also present on motile sperm, recognized by egg receptors, and is required for sperm-egg fusion.

    • Claudia M. Rival
    • , Wenhao Xu
    •  & Kodi S. Ravichandran

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) plays critical roles in transcriptional silencing during development. Here the authors identify EZHIP as a cofactor of PRC2 expressed predominantly in the gonads, finding that EZHIP limits the enzymatic activity of PRC2 in germ cells in mice.

    • Roberta Ragazzini
    • , Raquel Pérez-Palacios
    •  & Raphaël Margueron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Germline cells transfer genetic information to offspring, and in zebrafish, drive sex determination. Here the authors report that, unlike mammals, the germline of zebrafish does not undergo genome-wide DNA methylation erasure, while amplifying and demethylating sex-linked rDNA during feminisation.

    • Oscar Ortega-Recalde
    • , Robert C. Day
    •  & Timothy A. Hore

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glycoprotein ZP1 is a component of the oocyte’s zona pellucida (ZP), and mutations in human ZP1 are linked to female infertility. Here, using structure-function analysis, the authors suggest that filament cross-linking by ZP1 is required to form a stable ZP in human, and infertility mutations interfere with cross-linking.

    • Kaoru Nishimura
    • , Elisa Dioguardi
    •  & Luca Jovine

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Germ cells are the means of transferring genetic information to the next generation. Here the authors characterise the DNA methylomes of zebrafish primordial germ cells and find that, unlike mammals, the zebrafish germ cells do not undergo genome-wide DNA demethylation but rather retain paternal DNA methylation patterns

    • Ksenia Skvortsova
    • , Katsiaryna Tarbashevich
    •  & Ozren Bogdanovic

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