ERC Consolidator Grant · 2018
During gametogenesis, germ cells undergo profound chromatin reorganisation, condensation and transcriptional shutdown. Upon fertilization, gamete chromatin is epigenetically reprogrammed, generating a totipotent zygote that can give rise to all cell types of the adult organism. The maternal factors that reprogram gametes to totipotency are unknown. The current dogma suggests that the parental epigenetic information must be erased in order to establish totipotency. In contrast, we have recently discovered that maternal gametes transmit the epigenetic H3K27me3 histone modification to the next generation (Zenk et al., Science, 2017) adding to increasing evidence suggesting that gametes convey…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.