Francisco Pelegri

By Celeste Eno and Francisco Pelegri

Animals specify primordial germ cells (PGCs) in two alternate modes: preformation and epigenesis. Epigenesis relies on signal transduction from the surrounding tissues to instruct a group of cells to acquire PGC identity. Preformation, thought to be the more derived PGC specification mode, is instead based on the maternal inheritance of germ cell-determining factors. We use the zebrafish as a model system, in which PGCs are specified through maternal inheritance of germ plasm, to study this process in vertebrates. In zebrafish, maternally inherited germ plasm ribonucleoparticles (RNPs) have co-opted the cytoskeletal machinery to reach progressive levels of multimerization, resulting in the formation of four large masses of aggregated germ plasm RNPs. At later stages, germ plasm masses continue to use components of the cell division machinery, such as the spindles, centrosomes, and/or subcellular organelles to segregate asymmetrically during cell division and subsequently induce germ cell fate. This chapter discusses the current knowledge of germ cell specification focusing on the zebrafish as a model system. We also provide a comparative analysis of the mechanism for germ plasm RNP segregation in zebrafish versus other known vertebrate systems of germ cell preformation, such as in amphibian and avian models.

Part of the book: Insights from Animal Reproduction

By Elaine Welch and Francisco Pelegri

In vertebrate species, induction of the embryonic axis is initiated by the transport of maternally supplied determinants, initially localized to the vegetal pole of the egg, toward the prospective organizer in the animal region. This transport process remains incompletely understood. Here, we review studies involving embryonic manipulations, visualization, and functional analysis of the cytoskeleton and loss- and gain-of-function conditions, which provide insights in this process. Transport of dorsal determinants requires cytoskeletal reorganization of a vegetal array of microtubules, microtubule motors, and an off-center movement of the vegetal cortex with respect to the inner egg core, a so-called cortical rotation. Additional mechanisms may be used in specific systems, such as a more general animally directed movement found in the teleost embryo. Initial polarity of the microtubule movement depends on early asymmetries, which are amplified by the movement of the outermost cortex. An interplay between microtubule organization and axis specification has also been reported in other animal species. Altogether, these studies show the importance of cytoskeletal dynamic changes, such as bundling, force-inducing motor activity, and regulated cytoskeletal growth, for the intracellular transport of maternally inherited factors to their site of action in the zygote.

Part of the book: Cytoskeleton