EHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.

EHMT2 is the main euchromatic H3K9 methyltransferase. Embryos with zygotic, or maternal mutation in the Ehmt2 gene exhibit variable developmental delay. To understand how EHMT2 prevents variable developmental delay we performed RNA sequencing of mutant and somite stage-matched normal embryos at 8.5-...

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Autores principales: Tie-Bo Zeng, Nicholas Pierce, Ji Liao, Purnima Singh, Kin Lau, Wanding Zhou, Piroska E Szabó
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:c55915584d4446d5af642cf92567787e2021-12-02T20:03:15ZEHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.1553-73901553-740410.1371/journal.pgen.1009908https://doaj.org/article/c55915584d4446d5af642cf92567787e2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1009908https://doaj.org/toc/1553-7390https://doaj.org/toc/1553-7404EHMT2 is the main euchromatic H3K9 methyltransferase. Embryos with zygotic, or maternal mutation in the Ehmt2 gene exhibit variable developmental delay. To understand how EHMT2 prevents variable developmental delay we performed RNA sequencing of mutant and somite stage-matched normal embryos at 8.5-9.5 days of gestation. Using four-way comparisons between delayed and normal embryos we clarified what it takes to be normal and what it takes to develop. We identified differentially expressed genes, for example Hox genes that simply reflected the difference in developmental progression of wild type and the delayed mutant uterus-mate embryos. By comparing wild type and zygotic mutant embryos along the same developmental window we detected a role of EHMT2 in suppressing variation in the transcriptional switches. We identified transcription changes where precise switching during development occurred only in the normal but not in the mutant embryo. At the 6-somite stage, gastrulation-specific genes were not precisely switched off in the Ehmt2-/- zygotic mutant embryos, while genes involved in organ growth, connective tissue development, striated muscle development, muscle differentiation, and cartilage development were not precisely switched on. The Ehmt2mat-/+ maternal mutant embryos displayed high transcriptional variation consistent with their variable survival. Variable derepression of transcripts occurred dominantly in the maternally inherited allele. Transcription was normal in the parental haploinsufficient wild type embryos despite their delay, consistent with their good prospects. Global profiling of transposable elements revealed EHMT2 targeted DNA methylation and suppression at LTR repeats, mostly ERVKs. In Ehmt2-/- embryos, transcription over very long distances initiated from such misregulated 'driver' ERVK repeats, encompassing a multitude of misexpressed 'passenger' repeats. In summary, EHMT2 reduced transcriptional variation of developmental switch genes and developmentally switching repeat elements at the six-somite stage embryos. These findings establish EHMT2 as a suppressor of transcriptional and developmental variation at the transition between gastrulation and organ specification.Tie-Bo ZengNicholas PierceJi LiaoPurnima SinghKin LauWanding ZhouPiroska E SzabóPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleGeneticsQH426-470ENPLoS Genetics, Vol 17, Iss 11, p e1009908 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Genetics
QH426-470
spellingShingle Genetics
QH426-470
Tie-Bo Zeng
Nicholas Pierce
Ji Liao
Purnima Singh
Kin Lau
Wanding Zhou
Piroska E Szabó
EHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.
description EHMT2 is the main euchromatic H3K9 methyltransferase. Embryos with zygotic, or maternal mutation in the Ehmt2 gene exhibit variable developmental delay. To understand how EHMT2 prevents variable developmental delay we performed RNA sequencing of mutant and somite stage-matched normal embryos at 8.5-9.5 days of gestation. Using four-way comparisons between delayed and normal embryos we clarified what it takes to be normal and what it takes to develop. We identified differentially expressed genes, for example Hox genes that simply reflected the difference in developmental progression of wild type and the delayed mutant uterus-mate embryos. By comparing wild type and zygotic mutant embryos along the same developmental window we detected a role of EHMT2 in suppressing variation in the transcriptional switches. We identified transcription changes where precise switching during development occurred only in the normal but not in the mutant embryo. At the 6-somite stage, gastrulation-specific genes were not precisely switched off in the Ehmt2-/- zygotic mutant embryos, while genes involved in organ growth, connective tissue development, striated muscle development, muscle differentiation, and cartilage development were not precisely switched on. The Ehmt2mat-/+ maternal mutant embryos displayed high transcriptional variation consistent with their variable survival. Variable derepression of transcripts occurred dominantly in the maternally inherited allele. Transcription was normal in the parental haploinsufficient wild type embryos despite their delay, consistent with their good prospects. Global profiling of transposable elements revealed EHMT2 targeted DNA methylation and suppression at LTR repeats, mostly ERVKs. In Ehmt2-/- embryos, transcription over very long distances initiated from such misregulated 'driver' ERVK repeats, encompassing a multitude of misexpressed 'passenger' repeats. In summary, EHMT2 reduced transcriptional variation of developmental switch genes and developmentally switching repeat elements at the six-somite stage embryos. These findings establish EHMT2 as a suppressor of transcriptional and developmental variation at the transition between gastrulation and organ specification.
format article
author Tie-Bo Zeng
Nicholas Pierce
Ji Liao
Purnima Singh
Kin Lau
Wanding Zhou
Piroska E Szabó
author_facet Tie-Bo Zeng
Nicholas Pierce
Ji Liao
Purnima Singh
Kin Lau
Wanding Zhou
Piroska E Szabó
author_sort Tie-Bo Zeng
title EHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.
title_short EHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.
title_full EHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.
title_fullStr EHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.
title_full_unstemmed EHMT2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.
title_sort ehmt2 suppresses the variation of transcriptional switches in the mouse embryo.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/c55915584d4446d5af642cf92567787e
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