PUBLICATION

Identification of maternal-effect genes in zebrafish using maternal crispants

Authors
Moravec, C.E., Voit, G.C., Otterlee, J., Pelegri, F.
ID
ZDB-PUB-210901-5
Date
2021
Source
Development (Cambridge, England)   148(19): (Journal)
Registered Authors
Pelegri, Francisco
Keywords
Crispr, Early development, Genome editing, Maternal-effect, Zebrafish, fhdc3, kpna7
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems*
  • Gene Editing/methods*
  • Maternal Inheritance*
  • Ovum/cytology
  • Ovum/metabolism
  • Zebrafish
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
PubMed
34463742 Full text @ Development
Abstract
In animals, early development is dependent on a pool of maternal factors, both RNA and proteins, which are required for basic cellular process and cell differentiation until zygotic genome activation. The role of a majority of these maternally expressed factors is not fully understood. By exploiting the biallelic editing ability of CRISPR-Cas9, we identify and characterize maternal-effect genes in a single generation, using a maternal crispant technique. We validated the ability to generate biallelic mutations in the germline by creating maternal crispants that phenocopied previously characterized maternal-effect genes: motley/birc5b, tmi/prc1l, and aura/mid1ip1. Additionally, by targeting maternally expressed genes of unknown function in zebrafish, we identified two new maternal-effect zebrafish genes, kpna7 and fhdc3. The genetic identity of these maternal crispants was confirmed by sequencing haploid progeny from F0 females, which allowed the analysis of newly induced lesions in the maternal germ line. Our studies show that maternal crispants allow for the effective identification and primary characterization of maternal-effect genes in a single generation, facilitating the reverse genetics analysis of maternal factors that drive embryonic development.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping