rDNA nascent transcripts promote a unique spatial organization during mouse early development

Abstract

During the first cell cycles of the early development, the chromatin of the embryo is highly reprogrammed alongside that embryonic genome starts its own transcription. The spatial organization of the genome is a major process that contributes to regulating gene transcription in time and space, however, it is poorly studied in the context of early embryos. To study the cause and effect link between transcription and spatial organization in embryos, we focused on the ribosomal genes, that are first silent and begin to transcribe during the 2-cell stage in mouse. We demonstrated that ribosomal sequences are spatially organized in a very peculiar manner from the 2-cell to the 16-cell stage with transcription and processing of ribosomal RNAs excluding mutually. Using drugs inhibiting the RNA polymerase I, we show that this organization, totally different from somatic cells, depends on an active transcription of ribosomal genes and induces a unique chromatin environment that favors major satellite sequences transcription after the 4-cell stage.