Fig. 4: Histone Kcr is essential for major ZGA and repetitive elements in late 2-cell stage in mice. | Nature Communications

Fig. 4: Histone Kcr is essential for major ZGA and repetitive elements in late 2-cell stage in mice.

From: Echs1-mediated histone crotonylation facilitates zygotic genome activation and expression of repetitive elements in early mammalian embryos

Fig. 4

A Volcano of transcript changes in siEchs1 versus siCtrl late 2-cell embryos (p-value were calculated using DESeq2). B–D Violin plots of ‘maternal RNA’ (B), ‘minor ZGA’ (C) and ‘major ZGA’ (D) genes (GSE169632) expression in late 2-cell embryos. E Dotplots indicated representative genes expression in late 2-cell embryos. F Genomic browser view of RNA-seq results by IGV in late 2-cell embryos. G Pearson analysis between H3K9cr and Pol II density (GSE215813) at promoter in late 2-cell embryos. H, I Pearson analysis H3K9cr density between promoter and corresponding gene expression (H) or gene body (I) in late 2-cell embryos. J Images of EdU staining in 2-cell embryos treated with (APH)/without APH (Ctrl) (n = 12), scale bar: 20 μm. K, L qRT-PCR of ‘minor ZGA’ (K) and ‘major ZGA’ (L) genes expression in late 2-cell embryos (n = 30). Two-way ANOVA for analysis (Mean ± SD). M Volcano showed retrotransposon expression changes between siEchs1 and siCtrl late 2-cell embryos (p-value were calculated using DESeq2), SINE/B1 family with changed expression were indicated. N Heatmap illustrated expression of retrotransposon subfamilies at late 2-cell embryo stage. O SINE/B1 adjacent genes were categorized into ‘high’, ‘medium’, and ‘low’ groups by transcription level in late 2-cell embryos. P Boxplot showing Pol II intensity at promoter in ‘high’, ‘medium’, and ‘low’ groups. Q Boxplot showing enrichment of H3K9cr at adjacent SINE/B1 elements of ‘high’, ‘medium’, and ‘low’ group genes. R Boxplot showing the distances between adjacent SINE/B1 elements and TSS of ‘high’, ‘medium’, and ‘low’ group genes. S qRT-PCR analysis the rRNA level in siCtrl and siEchs1 late 2-cell embryos (n = 30). T HPG fluorescent staining in late 2-cell embryos (n = 16). Scale bar: 20 μm. In (J), (S) and (T), data were presented as Mean ± SD of three independent replicates and examined by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test, ns indicates P > 0.05. In (B), (C) and (D), data were presented as Mean ± SD and examined by Mann-Whitney U test. In (O), (P), (Q) and (R), the boxplot exception (centre line: median; box limits: quartile 1 and quartile 3, and whiskers showing the maximum and minimum values). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

Back to article page