Molecular Control of Germline Development in Zebrafish

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Roland Dosch
• Subject Area: Developmental Biology ; General Genetics and Functional Genome Biology ; Cell Biology
• Term: from 2010 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 166175879

Organisms have the unique capacity to generate a copy of themselves. Multicellular organisms use for their reproduction specific cells termed germ cells, which develop into sperm and egg. Germ cells are specified during embryogenesis of many animals by germ plasm, which is composed of RNA-granules. This cellular structure is exclusively present in germ cells. Although germ plasm was discovered more than 100 years ago, its molecular function is still mysterious.We use the zebrafish to molecularly analyze germ plasm in vertebrates. The zebrafish emerged in recent years as an outstanding model organism to explore vertebrate embryogenesis, since it combines eminent tools for molecular genetics and cellular biology. We discovered with these methods the germ plasm protein Bucky ball representing the first and hitherto only vertebrate factor inducing in vivo the formation of additional germ cells. In this research project, we take advantage of the fascinating activities of Bucky ball as a germ plasm organizer to investigate the molecular mechanisms of germ cell specification in vertebrates. More precisely, we plan to investigate key factors, which localize germ plasm in prospective germ cells:I) Isolate novel proteins, which localize germ plasm to the germline of vertebrate embryos.II) Characterize the role of non-muscle myosin II during germ plasm localization.With the proposed projects we plan to elucidate the molecular mechanisms, whereby the early embryo is subdivide into soma and germline. The results will contribute to our understanding of germline development, which is critical for the fertility of an organism.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants