Transcription factor AP2 controls cnidarian germ cell induction.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32054756.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.aay6782 and PMC identifier 7025884.
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Abstract
Clonal animals do not sequester a germ line during embryogenesis. Instead, they have adult stem cells that contribute to somatic tissues or gametes. How germ fate is induced in these animals, and whether this process is related to bilaterian embryonic germline induction, is unknown. We show that transcription factor AP2 (Tfap2), a regulator of mammalian germ lines, acts to commit adult stem cells, known as i-cells, to the germ cell fate in the clonal cnidarian <i>Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus</i> <i>Tfap2</i> mutants lacked germ cells and gonads. Transplanted wild-type cells rescued gonad development but not germ cell induction in <i>Tfap2</i> mutants. Forced expression of <i>Tfap2</i> in i-cells converted them to germ cells. Therefore, Tfap2 is a regulator of germ cell commitment across germ line-sequestering and germ line-nonsequestering animals.
Medical subject headings
- Adult Stem Cells
- Gametogenesis
- Germ Cells
- Gonads
- Hydrozoa
- Transcription Factor AP-2