Mitochondrial RNA synthesis in sea urchin embryos

RNA synthesis in male pronuclei of the sea urchin

Transcription in male pronuclei of fertilized sea urchin eggs was measured by comparison of [3H]uridine incorporation into RNA in polyspermic, monospermic and activated eggs under conditions where uptake of the isotope and conversion to UTP were equivalent. RNA accumulation from male pronuclei begins by S phase of the first cell cycle. Initiation of this RNA synthesis does not require DNA synthesis. A major fraction of the newly synthesized transcripts are mRNAs coding for early embryo (alpha-) histones. In addition, several other unidentified transcripts are detected by gel electrophoresis. The pattern of RNA transcription remains constant for at least 4 h post-fertilization. These results demonstrate that specific transcription of male pronuclear sequences is activated in the first cell cycle following fertilization.

Informational content of the echinoderm egg

The sea urchin egg contains a store of mRNA synthesized during oogenesis but translated only after fertilization, which accounts for a large, rapid increase in the rate of synthesis of largely the same set of proteins synthesized by eggs. Starfish oocytes contain a population of stored maternal mRNA that becomes actively translated upon GVBD and codes for a set of proteins distinct from that synthesized by oocytes. The sequence complexity of RNA in echinoderm eggs is about 3.5 x 10(8) nucleotides, enough to code for about 12,000 different mRNAs averaging 3 kb in length. About 2-4% of the egg RNA functions as mRNA during early embryonic development; most of the sequences are rare, represented in a few thousand copies per egg, but some are considerably more abundant. Many of the stored RNA sequences accumulate during the period of vitellogenesis, which lasts a few weeks. The mechanisms of storage and translational activation of maternal mRNA are not well understood. Histone mRNAs are sequested in the egg pronucleus until first cleavage, but other mRNAs are widely distributed in the cytoplasm. The population of maternal RNA includes many very large molecules having interspersed repetitive sequence transcripts colinear with single-copy sequences. The structural features of much of the cytoplasmic maternal RNA is thus reminiscent of incompletely processed nuclear precursors of mRNA. The functional role of these strange molecules is not understood, but many interesting possibilities have been considered. For instance, they may be segregated into different cell lineages during cleavage and/or they may become translationally activated by selective processing during development. Maternal mRNA appears to be underloaded with ribosomes when translated, possibly because the coding sequences are short relative to the size of the mRNA. Most abundant and many rare mRNA sequences persist during embryonic development. The rare sequence molecules are replaced by newly synthesized RNA, but some abundant maternal transcripts appear to persist throughout embryonic development. Most of the proteins present in the egg do not change significantly in mass during development, but a few decline or accumulate substantially. Together, these observations indicate that much of the information for embryogenesis is stored in the egg, although substantial changes in gene expression occur during development.

Molecular cloning of five individual stage- and tissue-specific mRNA sequences from sea urchin pluteus embryos

Five developmentally regulated sea urchin mRNA sequences which increase in abundance between the blastula and pluteus stages of development were isolated by molecular cloning of cDNA. The regulated sequences all appeared in moderately abundant mRNA molecules of pluteus cells and represented 4% of the clones tested. There were no regulated sequences detected in the 40% of the clones which hybridized to the most abundant mRNA, and the screening procedures were inadequate to detect possible regulation in the 20 to 30% of the clones presumably derived from rare-class mRNA. The reaction of 32P[cDNA] from blastula and pluteus mRNA to dots of the cloned DNAs on nitrocellulose filters indicated that the mRNAs complementary to the different cloned pluteus-specific sequences were between 3- and 47-fold more prevalent at the pluteus stage than at the blastula stage. Polyadenylated RNA from different developmental stages was transferred from electrophoretic gels to nitrocellulose filters and reacted to the different cloned sequences. The regulated mRNAs were undetectable in the RNA of 3-h embryos, became evident at the hatching blastula stage, and reached a maximum in abundance by the gastrula or pluteus stage. Certain of the clones reacted to two sizes of mRNA which did not vary coordinately with development. Transfers of RNA isolated from each of the three cell layers of pluteus embryos that were reacted to the cloned sequences revealed that two of the sequences were found in the mRNA of all three layers, two were ectoderm specific, and one was endoderm specific. Four of the regulated sequences were complementary to one or two major bands and one to at least 50 bands on Southern transfers of restriction endonuclease-digested total sea urchin DNA.

Molecular cloning of five individual stage- and tissue-specific mRNA sequences from sea urchin pluteus embryos

Five developmentally regulated sea urchin mRNA sequences which increase in abundance between the blastula and pluteus stages of development were isolated by molecular cloning of cDNA. The regulated sequences all appeared in moderately abundant mRNA molecules of pluteus cells and represented 4% of the clones tested. There were no regulated sequences detected in the 40% of the clones which hybridized to the most abundant mRNA, and the screening procedures were inadequate to detect possible regulation in the 20 to 30% of the clones presumably derived from rare-class mRNA. The reaction of 32P[cDNA] from blastula and pluteus mRNA to dots of the cloned DNAs on nitrocellulose filters indicated that the mRNAs complementary to the different cloned pluteus-specific sequences were between 3- and 47-fold more prevalent at the pluteus stage than at the blastula stage. Polyadenylated RNA from different developmental stages was transferred from electrophoretic gels to nitrocellulose filters and reacted to the different cloned sequences. The regulated mRNAs were undetectable in the RNA of 3-h embryos, became evident at the hatching blastula stage, and reached a maximum in abundance by the gastrula or pluteus stage. Certain of the clones reacted to two sizes of mRNA which did not vary coordinately with development. Transfers of RNA isolated from each of the three cell layers of pluteus embryos that were reacted to the cloned sequences revealed that two of the sequences were found in the mRNA of all three layers, two were ectoderm specific, and one was endoderm specific. Four of the regulated sequences were complementary to one or two major bands and one to at least 50 bands on Southern transfers of restriction endonuclease-digested total sea urchin DNA.

Developmental changes in the molecular weight of heterogeneous nuclear RNA

The size distribution of heterogeneous nuclear RNA (hnRNA) in the sea urchin embryo changes markedly during early development. Measurement of cleavage (4.5 h) to late gastrula (40 h) hnRNA by sedimentation in aqueous and denaturing solvent indicates that in the stages tested cleavage (4.5 h) hnRNA is smallest and rotating blastula (13 h) hnRNA is largest. The molecular weight of cleavage hnRNA is calculated to be about one-third that of rotating blastula hnRNA. Sedimentation of early embryo hnRNA in denaturing solvent to disaggregate complexes demonstrated mean S values lower than those obtained in aqueous solvent.

Comparative characterization of mitochondrial nucleoids and of nuclear chromatin of sea urchin embryos

Chromatin and mitochondrial nucleoids of sea urchin embryos were found to have different isopycnic densities in metrizamide gradients. The banding density of nucleoids was constant during development, while there appeared to be alterations in the density profiles of chromatin banded at low ionic strength.

Isolation and partial characterization of a mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid-protein complex from sea urchin embryos

Lysis of mitochondria from sea urchin embryos with Triton X-100 led to a complete conversion of DNA-containing mitochondrial residues into protein-DNA complex with a density higher than 1.22 g/cm3 in sucrose solutions. This complex banded isopycnically in metrizamide gradients at a density of 1.26 g/cm3. Exposure to mixtures of Triton X-100 with Tween 80 resulted in progressively less delipitated and disorganized mitochondria over Tween/Triton weight ratios from 1 to 2, with the retention of the starting buoyant density in sucrose of approximately 1.16 g/cm3 at Tween/Triton ratios above 2.5. The DNA-internal protein complex sedimented with the bulk of the surviving mitochondrial structure under all conditions studied. No free DNA could be detected under any conditions of membrane removal.

Biochemical and electron microscopic characterization of DNA-RNA complexes from HeLa cell mitochondria

The previous electron microscopic investigations on the occurrence in HeLa cell mitochondria of transcription complexes of mitochondrial DNA [Aloni, Y., and Attardi, G. (1972a), J. Mol. Biol. 70, 363-373] have been extended with the aim of obtaining these complexes in a reasonably pure form for biochemical analysis. By using conditions designed to minimize losses of such structures and any possible contamination by nuclear DNA, it has been shown that a substantial fraction (40 to 50%) of mitochondrial DNA can be isolated from exponentially growing HeLa cells in the form of fastsedimenting complexes with RNA. These complexes have been characterized with respect to density and sedimentation properties, content in newly synthesized RNA, stability of the association of RNA with DNA, presence of different forms of mitochondrial DNA, and electron microscopic appearance. The properties of these complexes, as well as the results of reconstruction experiments, strongly suggest that the majority of such structures represent true transcriptional intermediates. The occurrence in this fraction of replicating or newly replicated mitochondrial DNA molecules has been observed. Although the presence of single-stranded DNA segments makes the replicative intermediates particularly susceptible to aggregation with free RNA, electron microscopic observations point to the possibility that these intermediates may be recruited for transcription.

Polyadenylylation and transcription following fertilization

Polyadenylylated RNA from sea urchin embryos concomitantly labeled with [(3)H]adenosine and [(14)C]uridine between fertilization and the four-cell stage was used to determine whether the RNA primers prerequisite to the massive polyadenylylation known to occur after fertilization are synthesized during oogenesis or subsequent to fertilization. Characterization of this RNA and unlabeled RNA via retention on nitrocellulose membranes and poly(U)-impregnated filters, molecular hybridization with [(3)H]poly(U), RNase resistance, oligo(dT)-cellulose chromatography, and size-distribution studies indicates that the poly(A) tracts synthesized after fertilization are predominantly appended to preexisting cytoplasmic primers of oogenic origin. Hence, if polyadenylylation is involved in the selective editing of presumptive genetic messages, this process is not confined to the nucleus unless a given codogenic transcript can undergo more than one cycle of adenylylation.

Polyadenylation of maternal RNA of sea urchin eggs after fertilization

Between fertilization, or parthenogenetic activation, and the two-cell stage, the content of polyadenylic acid in sea urchin eggs doubles, and the increase occurs primarily in the ribosome-polyribosome fraction. The increase is due to polyadenylation of preexisting RNA molecules synthesized during oogenesis. The polyadenylation occurs in activated, enucleated merogons. It is argued that cytoplasmic polyadenylation may play a role in mobilization of maternal messenger RNA for translation and the polyadenylic acid does not subserve an exclusively nuclear function.

Role of the mitochondrial genome during early development in mice. Effects of ethidium bromide and chloramphenicol

The role of the mitochondrial genome in early development and differentiation was studied in mouse embryos cultured in vitro from the two to four cell stage to the blastocyst (about 100 cells). During this period the mitochondria undergo morphological differentiation: progressive enlargement followed by an increase in matrix density, in number of cristae, and in number of mitochondrial ribosomes. Mitochondrial ribosomal and transfer RNA synthesis occurs from the 8 to 16 cell stage on and contributes to the establishment of a mitochondrial protein-synthesizing system. Inhibition of mitochondrial RNA- and protein-synthesis by 0.1 microg/ml of ethidium bromide or 31.2 microg/ml of chloramphenicol permits essentially normal embryo development and cellular differentiation. Mitochondrial morphogenesis is also nearly normal except for the appearance of dilated and vesicular cristae in blastocyst mitochondria. Such blastocysts are capable of normal postimplantation development when transplanted into the uteri of foster mothers. Higher concentrations of these inhibitors have general toxic effects and arrest embryo development. It is concluded that mitochondrial differentiation in the early mouse embryo occurs through the progressive transformation of the preexisting mitochondria and is largely controlled by the nucleocytoplasmic system. Mitochondrial protein synthesis is required for the normal structural organization of the cristae in blastocyst mitochondria. Embryo development and cellular differentiation up to the blastocyst stage are not dependent on mitochondrial genetic activity.