Untangling the mysteries of maternal inheritance with polyCOMB

Untangling the mysteries of maternal inheritance with polyCOMB

The EMBO Journal. doi:10.1038/emboj.2012.140

Authors: Roopsha Sengupta & M Azim Surani

EMBO J advance online publication 12 April 2012; doi:10.1101/gad.188094.112The inheritance of maternal factors in oocytes plays a crucial role in development, particularly in non-mammalian species, where asymmetric segregation of developmental factors among early blastomeres regulates early patterning of the embryo. Whereas this role is less important in mammals, a number of studies have shown that maternal inheritance is equally critical for regulating development through epigenetic instructions and initiating transition from the zygote to embryonic transcription programme (Li et al, 2010). A recent study by Posfai et al (2012) now shows the important role played by maternally inherited Polycomb complexes during development of the mouse oocyte, and thereafter during early development.