China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2022, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (1): 232-240.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2022.01.025

• Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Chromatin Remodeling During Mammalian Zygotic Genome Activation

ZHANG Jingyao, ZHANG Lu, GAO Shuai   

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2021-08-18 Online:2022-01-05 Published:2021-12-29

Abstract: The terminally differentiated mammalian gametes are converted into totipotent fertilized embryo after fertilization. The embryo's development progress is initially guided by oocyte's products stored in the embryo. When the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) completes, maternal mRNA is degraded, the zygotic genome begins to be transcribed, and the development of the zygote is regulated by itself. With the development of embryos, the epigenetic genome has undergone drastic reprogramming, and epigenetic modification plays an important role in the process of embryonic development. Notably, chromatin remodeling regulates zygotic gene expression by adjusting the genome accessibility of DNA-binding proteins. Chromatin remodeling refers to the sharp changes in chromatin structure and genome accessibility. The uneven distribution of nucleosomes leads to different loose degrees in different regions of the genome, and the regions with high chromatin accessibility are usually important regulatory regions and easier to combine with transcription factors. Chromatin remodeling participates in the regulation of zygotic gene expression by regulating the genomic accessibility of DNA binding proteins, and plays an important role in the process of zygotic genome activation (ZGA). In the review, the authors discuss the dynamic changes in the chromatin structure and local chromatin accessibility during zygotic genome activation, and their role in zygotic genome activation, which provides a reference for understanding the regulatory mechanism of zygotic gene expression.

Key words: embryo; zygotic genome activation (ZGA); chromatin remodeling; epigenetic modification

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