Role of maternally-inherited microRNAs in medaka (Oryzias latipes) using Crispr/Cas9 base genome editing

• Grant number: 19/12669-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: December 15, 2019
• End date: December 05, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Physiology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Renata Guimarães Moreira Whitton
• Grantee: Fernanda de Mello
• Supervisor: Julien Bobe
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Rennes (INRA), France
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/21329-1 - Effects of cryopreservation on the epigenetic profile in ovarian follicles of zebrafish (Danio rerio), BP.PD

Abstract

The embryonic development after fertilization but prior to the beginning of transcription from the zygotic genome is a period that relies heavily on post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute one of the predominant mechanisms of post-transcriptional gene regulation, the role of small non-coding RNAs in the regulation of embryonic development remaisn poorly investigated. Because of the importance of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression prior to the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT), maternally deposited microRNAs have a significant role in this early development. Previous studies have demonstrated that miR-430 is encoded by a clustered multigene family and is abundantly expressed in early development. In zebrafish, miR-430 is needed to suppress primordial germ cell (PGC)-specific genes, such as nanos1, in somatic cells. However, the molecular characteristics of the miR-430 family in other teleost species have not been reported, and it is unclear whether such a function of miR-430 in PGC specification is a conserved. Although miR430 be abundantly expressed at the beginning of embryonic development, none demonstrate of the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression was demonstrated in medaka through the MZT. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in medaka prior to the maternal-to-zygotic transition and provide an in vivo functional evidence to determine miR-430 importance for early embryonic development success.