In a wide variety of organisms, germ cell differentiation is accompanied by robust alterations of gene expression and chromatin status. Through this developmental process, meiosis results in functional gametes that carry a half set of genetic information, enabling the successive maintenance of species. This whole process is accomplished by certain epigenetic programming, changes in chromosome architecture, and an ordered gene expression. These events are coordinately regulated in a spatio-temporal manner in germ cell lineage. Interestingly, although the final outcome of this process is to produce gamete, recent findings reveal that the molecular mechanisms that support it vary among species. These topics involve the events related to transcriptional as well as post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in response to the external stimuli that triggers the differentiation or development of germ cells. Moreover, epigenetic modification, chromatin structure, and higher order chromosome architecture also experience a dramatic change during such period and shape the transcriptome in germ cells, also being an integral part of the topics.
The main focus of this topic is the regulation of gene expression, which is often overshadowed by the nuclear spatial chromatin dynamics in germ cell development. We aim to establish an integrated collection of germ cell research from various model organisms, investigating how gene expression is regulated in germ cell development and how this differs between species.
Sub topics should broadly involve genome-wide epigenetic remodeling, higher-order chromatin structure, meiosis program, chromosome dynamics, and transposon silencing, to encompass the multiple molecular mechanisms that affect the gene expression programs for germ cell development, and how these differ between species. We appreciate any up-to-date original research papers and review articles of cellular and molecular mechanisms in animal and plant germ cell development.
In a wide variety of organisms, germ cell differentiation is accompanied by robust alterations of gene expression and chromatin status. Through this developmental process, meiosis results in functional gametes that carry a half set of genetic information, enabling the successive maintenance of species. This whole process is accomplished by certain epigenetic programming, changes in chromosome architecture, and an ordered gene expression. These events are coordinately regulated in a spatio-temporal manner in germ cell lineage. Interestingly, although the final outcome of this process is to produce gamete, recent findings reveal that the molecular mechanisms that support it vary among species. These topics involve the events related to transcriptional as well as post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in response to the external stimuli that triggers the differentiation or development of germ cells. Moreover, epigenetic modification, chromatin structure, and higher order chromosome architecture also experience a dramatic change during such period and shape the transcriptome in germ cells, also being an integral part of the topics.
The main focus of this topic is the regulation of gene expression, which is often overshadowed by the nuclear spatial chromatin dynamics in germ cell development. We aim to establish an integrated collection of germ cell research from various model organisms, investigating how gene expression is regulated in germ cell development and how this differs between species.
Sub topics should broadly involve genome-wide epigenetic remodeling, higher-order chromatin structure, meiosis program, chromosome dynamics, and transposon silencing, to encompass the multiple molecular mechanisms that affect the gene expression programs for germ cell development, and how these differ between species. We appreciate any up-to-date original research papers and review articles of cellular and molecular mechanisms in animal and plant germ cell development.
