Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences
+ fertility, + meiosis, + spermatogenesis, + oogenesis, + PRDM9, + reproductive age
While still in the Laboratory of Mouse Molecular Genetics, two members of our laboratory were involved in the cloning of the first vertebrate hybrid sterility gene – Prdm9 (Hst1). This research set the foundation for the Laboratory of Mechanisms of Germ Cell Development.
We have discovered that male infertility caused by a mutation in an epigenetic meiotic factor can be suppressed by introducing alleles from another mouse subspecies – and that these rescue factors likely contribute to the regulation of meiotic DNA repair. [pubmed] [doi]
We have found that in rats deficient in the epigenetic factor PRDM9 (histone-3-lysine methyltransferase), the male fertility becomes age-dependent and females develop premature ovarian failure. Our hypothesis is that both of these reproductive defects are likely caused by delayed meiosis. [pubmed] [doi]
