This study provides a complete sequence data set of maternal mRNA stored in zebrafish germ cells at the end of oogenesis. This catalogue contains highly expressed transcripts that are part of a vertebrate ovarian expressed gene signature. The molecular phenotype described provides groundwork for future experimental approaches aimed at identifying functionally important maternal transcripts and proteins involved in oogenesis and early stages of embryo development.
Two manuscripts were already published on important identified genes (Tingaud-Sequeira et al., 2004 Gene Expression Patterns 4:561-568, 2004; Marza et al., Developmental Dynamics 232: 506-518, 2005). A third manuscript has been published describing the molecular phenotype of zebrafish ovarian follicle by serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) and proteomic profiling, and comparison with the transcriptomes of other animals (Knoll-Gellida et al., BMC Genomics 7:46, 2006). This publication is available at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/7/46 and has been highly accessed and downloaded since its online publication on the BioMed Central website (Total accesses to this article: 1,648, from March 9, 2006 to November 30, 2006) demonstrating the high scientific impact of this research.