2. Academic Validation
  3. Modification of maternally defined H3K4me3 regulates the inviability of interspecific Xenopus hybrids

Modification of maternally defined H3K4me3 regulates the inviability of interspecific Xenopus hybrids

  • Sci Adv. 2023 Apr 7;9(14):eadd8343. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.add8343.
Qi Long 1 2,  Kai Yan 3 4 5 6,  Chendong Wang 1,  Yanling Wen 3,  Furong Qi 3,  Hui Wang 1,  Peng Shi 3 4 5 6,  Xingguo Liu 2,  Wai-Yee Chan 1 4 7,  Xuemei Lu 3 4 5 6,  Hui Zhao 1 4 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory for Cell Fate Regulation and Diseases, Guangzhou Medical University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
  • 2 Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 511436, China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution/Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Information, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
  • 4 Kunming Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research of Common Diseases, Hong Kong SAR, China.
  • 5 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
  • 6 Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
  • 7 Hong Kong Branch of CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China.
PMID: 37027476 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add8343
Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that interspecific hybridization is crucial to speciation. However, chromatin incompatibility during interspecific hybridization often renders this process. Genomic imbalances such as chromosomal DNA loss and rearrangements leading to infertility have been commonly noted in hybrids. The mechanism underlying reproductive isolation of interspecific hybridization remains elusive. Here, we identified that modification of maternally defined H3K4me3 in Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis hybrids determines the different fates of the two types of hybrids as te×ls with developmental arrest and viable le×ts. Transcriptomics highlighted that the P53 pathway was overactivated, and the Wnt signaling pathway was suppressed in te×ls hybrids. Moreover, the lack of maternal H3K4me3 in te×ls disturbed the balance of gene expression between the L and S subgenomes in this hybrid. Attenuation of p53 can postpone the arrested development of te×ls. Our study suggests an additional model of reproductive isolation based on modifications of maternally defined H3K4me3.

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