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Developmental Genetics
•fertiliztion: oocyte (egg) + sperm =
zygote
–mostly maternal cytoplasm
•embryo = developing zygote
–cytoplasmic localization
•maternal effect genes: mRNA, proteins
–differential transcription of embryo genes
–cell-cell interactions
–cell’s position in embryo determines
ultimate structure and function
Developmental Genetics
•determination: cell fate is
fixed
•differentiation: process by
which cells achieve final
form and function
•master regulating genes
–developmental pathways
Master Regulating Genes
•myoblast-determining (MyoD)
genes
–skeletal muscle cell (myocyte)
formation
•gene family with 4 members
–myoD, myogenin, myf5, MRF4
•nucleotide and amino acid level
conservation
»Each code for a DNA-binding protein
with a helix-loop-helix domain
