Deciphering tRNA repertoires and translation coordination during mouse early embryogenesis by ORACLE-tRNAseq
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Translational control is vital during the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT), yet the landscape of embryonic transfer RNA (tRNA) pools has been difficult to explore. Here, we develop Optimized Reaction for Accurate Capture of Low-input Entities tRNA Sequencing (ORACLE-tRNAseq), enabling robust tRNA profiling from as few as five mouse oocytes. We map tRNA landscapes from oocyte to blastocyst, identifying a distinct transition to embryonic tRNA repertoires and upregulation of tRNA pseudogenes at the 4-cell stage. Integrated multi-omics analyses reveal that zygotic tRNA gene activation coincides with zygotic genome activation (ZGA) and correlates with H3K4me3 establishment and chromatin remodeling. By coupling ORACLE-tRNAseq with Ribo-seq, we demonstrate that embryonic tRNA anticodon pools coordinate with high translation-efficiency gene pools to preferentially establish the zygotic translation machinery, particularly from major ZGA onwards. Collectively, these findings provide a resource for understanding translational regulatory networks during early embryogenesis. Early embryogenesis requires translational control which can be regulated through tRNA levels. Here, the authors develop ORACLE-tRNAseq to map dynamic tRNA landscapes across mouse preimplantation stages and find tRNA regulation coinciding with genome activation and coupled to translational coordination.
Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Yun Li, Xin Wang, Ruofan Huang, Haoquan Yu, You Wu, Ze Shu, Wenlin Jiang, Zheng Cao, Zongyu Yu, Hongyan Li, Rushuang Yan, Yawei Gao, Xiao-Ou Zhang, Yunfang Zhang
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
OpenAlex ID: W7159651303