Transcription in leech: mRNA synthesis is required for early cleavages in Helobdella embryos

Zygotic transcription was analyzed in embryos of the glossiphoniid leech Helobdella triserialis by autoradiographic detection of tritiated uridine incorporated in the presence or absence of low concentrations of alpha-amanitin. RNA synthesis was first detected after the second cleavage and alpha-amanitin-sensitive RNA synthesis was first detected during the divisions yielding the embryonic stem cells, or teloblasts. RNA synthesis increased as development progressed, and the bulk of alpha-amanitin-sensitive RNA synthesis was found in two classes of cells, the blast cells, which are the progeny of the teloblasts, and the micromere-derived cells. The time during which zygotic gene products are required was determined by observing the developmental consequences of alpha-amanitin exposure. Zygotes microinjected with alpha-amanitin underwent the first several cleavages with normal timing and symmetry, but underwent aberrant cleavages and produced supernumerary large blastomeres during the time that the control embryos generated teloblasts. Once the teloblasts were formed, the microinjection of alpha-amanitin did not affect the production of blast cells by the teloblasts, but it did block the divisions and movements of the blast cells and the micromere-derived cells. These data suggest that zygotic transcription is activated during the early cleavages of Helobdella embryos and that newly synthesized transcripts are required for the generation of teloblasts. Thus, there is an early, critical period of messenger RNA synthesis essential for teloblast production that is distinct from the later phase of messenger RNA synthesis required for cell divisions and cell movements during gastrulation.