Assessment of ‘one-step’ versus ‘sequential’ embryo culture conditions through embryonic genome methylation and hydroxymethylation changes

International audienc

Beneficial effects of Vero cells for developing IVF bovine eggs in two different coculture systems

International audienc

LunaRoo: A proposal for the Google Lunar XPrize payload opportunity with the part time scientists team

This proposal describes the innovative and competitive lunar payload solution developed at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT)–the LunaRoo: a hopping robot designed to exploit the Moon's lower gravity to leap up to 20m above the surface. It is compact enough to fit within a 10cm cube, whilst providing unique observation and mission capabilities by creating imagery during the hop. This first section is deliberately kept short and concise for web submission; additional information can be found in the second chapter

Mares’ age affects embryo ICM and trophoblast RNA-seq transcriptome at about D8

International audienc

Nulliparity affects the expression of a limited number of genes and pathways in Day 8 equine embryos

Nulliparous mares produce lighter and smaller foals compared to mares having previously foaled, with effects observed at least until 4 months of age. The need for a first gestation priming for the uterus to reach its full capacity has been proposed to explain this observation. Embryo developmental defects could be hypothesized but effects of maternal parity on the embryo have only been described once, in old mares, thus combining effects of parity and old age. The aim of this study was to determine effects of mare parity on embryo gene expression. Day-8 post ovulation blastocysts were collected from young (5/6 years old) nulliparous (YN, N=6) or multiparous (YM, N=4) non-nursing Saddlebred mares, inseminated with the semen of one stallion. Pure (TE_part) or inner-cell-mass-enriched (ICMandTE) trophoblast were obtained by embryo bisection for RNA sequencing (paired end, non-oriented, Illumina, NextSeq500). Deconvolution was performed on the ICMandTE dataset. Differential expression, with embryo sex and diameter as cofactors and gene set enrichment analysis (GO BP, KEGG, REACTOME databases) were performed using a false discovery rate <0.05 cutoff. Only a few genes were altered (ICM: n=18; TE: n=6) but several gene sets were perturbed (ICM: n=62; TE: n=50) by maternal parity. In YM, only pathways related to transcription, RNA processing and vesicle transport functions were enriched in the ICM whereas only pathways related to RNA localization were enriched in TE. In YN, while only gene sets related to ribosomes and extracellular matrix were enriched in the ICM, functions related to energy and lipid metabolism, lipid transport and interleukin-1 signaling were enriched in the TE. In conclusion, several genes and pathways are affected in embryos collected from nulliparous mares, with different effects on TE and ICM. Embryo development is altered in nulliparous mares, which could partially explain the term phenotype. Whether differences in gene expression result/induce poor embryo-maternal communication remains to be determined