A conserved event of the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) in animal embryos is the elimination of a subset of the maternal transcripts that accumulated during oogenesis. In invertebrates and lower vertebrates, a maternally encoded mRNA decay pathway (M-decay) acts before zygotic genome activation (ZGA) while a second pathway, which requires zygotic transcription, subsequently clears additional mRNAs (Z-decay). To date it has not been clear whether a Z-decay pathway is present in mammals. Here, we identify mouse and human maternal transcripts that are degraded after ZGA and show that inhibition of de novo transcription stabilizes these mRNAs in mouse and human embryos. We show that YAP1-TEAD4 transcription factor-mediated transcription is essential for Z-decay in mouse embryos and that TEAD4-triggered zygotic Tut4/7 expression and mRNA 3-oligouridylation direct Z-decay. SOURCE: Li Shen (shenlab@zju.edu.cn) - Shenlab Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE128283: Characterization of Zygotic Genome Activation-dependent Maternal mRNA Clearance in Mammals