Germ plasm
- Pgc suppresses the zygotically acting RNA decay pathway to protect germ plasm RNAs in the Drosophila embryo
Summary: The Drosophila Pgc protein ensures proper primordial germ cell development by repressing transcription of miRNA genes and contributing to the maintenance of germ plasm integrity during the establishment of the germ cell fate.
- Distinct cis-acting elements mediate targeting and clustering of Drosophila polar granule mRNAs
Summary: The accumulation of Drosophila germline mRNAs within polar granules is controlled by complex 3′UTR localization signals with distinct sub-elements that target mRNAs to the granules and promote mRNA clustering within them.
- Modulation of F-actin dynamics by maternal Mid1ip1L controls germ plasm aggregation and furrow recruitment in the zebrafish embryo
Summary: The cytoskeletal regulator Mid1ip1L is required in the early zebrafish embryo for F-actin dynamics and cortical contractions that modulate and facilitate germ plasm ribonucleoparticle aggregation.
- Slow calcium waves mediate furrow microtubule reorganization and germ plasm compaction in the early zebrafish embryo
Summary: During early cleavage stages, Nebel is required for calcium store enrichment at the furrow, with the reduced calcium release in nebel mutants disrupting the medial-to-distal enrichment of germ plasm RNPs and microtubule arrays.
- A novel role for sox7 in Xenopus early primordial germ cell development: mining the PGC transcriptome
Summary: RNA-sequencing and genetic manipulation of Xenopus laevis PGCs reveal novel roles for sox7 and pou5f3.3 in PGC development and a high degree of conservation between the Xenopus and human PGC transcriptomes.
- Kinesin-1 interacts with Bucky ball to form germ cells and is required to pattern the zebrafish body axis
Summary: Bucky ball is essential for germ plasm assembly in zebrafish. It binds Kinesin-1, which promotes microtubule reorganisation after egg activation and is required for Bucky ball activity.
- Primordial germ cells: the first cell lineage or the last cells standing?
Summary: In this Hypothesis article, Johnson and Alberio propose that the determinative mechanisms for PGC specification in most model systems evolved to promote speciation and evolvability, not to maintain the germ line.