title: Contribution of transcription to animal early development.
abstract: In mature gametes and during the oocyte-to-embryo transition, transcription is generally silenced and gene expression is post-transcriptionally regulated. However, we recently discovered that major transcription can occur immediately after fertilization, prior to pronuclear fusion, and in the first cell division of the oocyte-to-embryo transition in the nematode Ascaris suum. We postulate that the balance between transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation during the oocyte-to-embryo transition may largely be determined by cell cycle length and thus the time available for the genome to be transcribed.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics ; University of Colorado School of Medicine ; Aurora , CO USA.
authors.forename: Jianbin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001200:Ascaris / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints; D047108:Embryonic Development; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D009865:Oocytes / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014981:Xenopus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D015053:Zygote / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins
keywords: early development; maternal deposition; oocyte-to-embryo transition; post-transcriptional regulation; zygotic transcription