CSB Special Seminar – Nicholas Treen – Princeton University

CSB Special Seminar

Nicholas Treen, PhD.

Levine Lab, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University

TITLE: Timing Mechanisms to Awaken The Embryonic Genome

ABSTRACT: Transcription is an essential cellular process. Remarkably, in the earliest stages of embryonic development, the nuclei of embryonic cells are transcriptionally silenced. Protein synthesis occurs exclusively utilizing maternally deposited mRNAs. At a precise time point in embryogenesis, species specific but always before gastrulation, the nuclei of the embryo will suddenly begin transcription. This process, zygotic genome activation, is both a major mystery in developmental biology, and a major opportunity to study transcriptional processes. I will talk about my postdoctoral research using Ciona embryos to reveal novel mechanisms of zygotic genome activation. I will describe novel role for cell cycle regulators, phase separating transcriptional repressors, and signaling molecules to illuminate where and when genes are switched on and off in the earliest stages of embryonic development.

HOST: Tony Harris

LOCATION: Cell and Systems Biology, 25 Harbord Street, Suite 432

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