Aquaculture is the fastest-growing farmed food sector and will soon become the primary
source of fish and shellfish for human diets. In contrast to crop and livestock production …

Following fertilization, the two specified gametes must unite to create an entirely new
organism. The genome is initially transcriptionally quiescent, allowing the zygote to be …

Background DNA methylation is one of the main epigenetic mechanisms for the regulation of
gene expression in eukaryotes. In the standard model, methylation in gene promoters has …

The development of animal embryos is initially directed by maternal gene products. Then,
during the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT), developmental control is handed to the …

The idea that epigenetic determinants such as DNA methylation, histone modifications or
RNA can be passed to the next generation through meiotic products (gametes) is long …

Background Worldwide rising trend in infertility has been observed in the past few years with
male infertility arising as a major problem. One main reason for the rise in male infertility …

Phenotypic plasticity, both within and across generations, is an important mechanism that
organisms use to cope with rapid climate change. While an increasing number of studies …

Since the human genome was sequenced, the term" epigenetics" is increasingly being
associated with the hope that we are more than just the sum of our genes. Might what we …

The first major developmental transition in vertebrate embryos is the maternal-to-zygotic
transition (MZT) when maternal mRNAs are degraded and zygotic transcription begins …

Inheritance of genomic DNA underlies the vast majority of biological inheritance, yet it has
been clear for decades that additional epigenetic information can be passed on to future …