The mouse gene Ythdc2 exemplifies an evolutionarily ancient family of crucial regulators of the transition from germline stem cell divisions to meiosis.
Mechanisms that tether and release replicated sister chromatids to produce sperm and eggs rely extensively on meiotic cohesin complexes that are endowed with unexpectedly different properties specified by a single interchangeable subunit, the α-kleisin.
Selective transfer of mitochondria in the Balbiani body ensures high-quality oocyte mitochondria at extreme ploidy, explaining many enigmatic features of female germline architecture including germ cell loss.
In vitro model of germline specification in marmosets established by directed differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells, which transcriptionally resemble pre-migratory primordial germ cells in vivo.
Nicole L Nuckolls, Anthony C Mok ... Sarah E Zanders
The Wtf4 antidote protein assembles with the Wtf4 poison protein and promotes the transportation of the assembled proteins to the vacuole for sequestration or destruction.
Early oocyte development takes place in germline cysts and is strikingly conserved from Drosophila to mouse, reflecting common mechanisms that may help reverse aging and specify oocyte and early embryo polarity.
María Angélica Bravo Núñez, Ibrahim M Sabbarini ... Sarah E Zanders
The wtf meiotic drivers change the fitness landscape of meiosis in outcrossed Schizosaccharomyces pombe demonstrating that genetic parasites can favor the evolution of variants that disrupt meiotic fidelity.
Meiosis and differentiation of basidium, a defining sexual structure of the phylum Basidiomycota, are genetically integrated by a shared regulatory program to ensure the formation of infectious meiospores in Cryptococcus neoformans.
