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Mater, a maternal effect gene required for early embryonic development in mice

Abstract

Maternal effect genes produce mRNA or proteins that accumulate in the egg during oogenesis. We show here that Mater, a mouse oocyte protein dependent on the maternal genome, is essential for embryonic development beyond the two-cell stage. Females lacking the maternal effect gene Mater are sterile. Null males are fertile.

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Figure 1: In vivo development of embryos derived from Mater-null female mice.
Figure 2: De novo transcription and translation in embryos lacking Mater.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Westphal for discussions, and M. DePamphilis for discussions and critical reading of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jurrien Dean or Lawrence M. Nelson.

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Tong, ZB., Gold, L., Pfeifer, K. et al. Mater, a maternal effect gene required for early embryonic development in mice. Nat Genet 26, 267–268 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/81547

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