Fetal Estrogens are not Involved in Sex Determination But Critical for Early Ovarian Differentiation in Rabbits.

AROMATASE is encoded by the CYP19A1 gene and is the cytochrome enzyme responsible for estrogen synthesis in vertebrates. In most mammals, a peak of CYP19A1 gene expression occurs in the fetal XX gonad when sexual differentiation is initiated. To elucidate the role of this peak, we produced 3 lines of TALEN genetically edited CYP19A1 knockout (KO) rabbits that were devoid of any estradiol production.

Human apolipoprotein C1 transgenesis reduces atherogenesis in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.

Background And Aims: Apolipoprotein (apo) C1 is a 6.6 kDa protein associated with HDL and VLDL. ApoC1 alters triglyceride clearance, and it also favors cholesterol accumulation in HDL, especially by inhibiting CETP in human plasma.

Induction of body weight loss through RNAi-knockdown of APOBEC1 gene expression in transgenic rabbits.

In the search of new strategies to fight against obesity, we targeted a gene pathway involved in energy uptake. We have thus investigated the APOB mRNA editing protein (APOBEC1) gene pathway that is involved in fat absorption in the intestine. The APOB gene encodes two proteins, APOB100 and APOB48, via the editing of a single nucleotide in the APOB mRNA by the APOBEC1 enzyme.

Gonad differentiation in the rabbit: evidence of species-specific features.

The rabbit is an attractive species for the study of gonad differentiation because of its 31-day long gestation, the timing of female meiosis around birth and the 15-day delay between gonadal switch and the onset of meiosis in the female. The expression of a series of genes was thus determined by qPCR during foetal life until adulthood, completed by a histological analysis and whenever possible by an immunohistological one. Interesting gene expression profiles were recorded.

Regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis involves an unexpected complex transcriptional regulation of TT8 expression, in Arabidopsis.

TT8/bHLH042 is a key regulator of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins (PAs) biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. TT8 transcriptional activity has been studied extensively, and relies on its ability to form, with several R2R3-MYB and TTG1 (WD-Repeat protein), different MYB-bHLH-WDR (MBW) protein complexes. By contrast, little is known on how TT8 expression is itself regulated.

NOF1 encodes an Arabidopsis protein involved in the control of rRNA expression.

The control of ribosomal RNA biogenesis is essential for the regulation of protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells. Here, we report the characterization of NOF1 that encodes a putative nucleolar protein involved in the control of rRNA expression in Arabidopsis. The gene has been isolated by T-DNA tagging and its function verified by the characterization of a second allele and genetic complementation of the mutants.

WRINKLED1 specifies the regulatory action of LEAFY COTYLEDON2 towards fatty acid metabolism during seed maturation in Arabidopsis.

The WRINKLED1 (WRI1) transcription factor has been shown to play a role of the utmost importance during oil accumulation in maturing seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana. However, little is known about the regulatory processes involved. In this paper, comprehensive functional analyses of three new mutants corresponding to null alleles of wri1 confirm that the induction of WRI1 is a prerequisite for fatty acid synthesis and is important for normal embryo development.