TEAD4 role in trophectoderm commitment and development is not conserved in non-rodent mammals

The first lineage differentiation in mammals gives rise to the inner cell mass (ICM) and the trophectoderm (TE). In mice, TEAD4 is a master regulator of TE commitment, as it regulates the expression of other TE-specific genes and its ablation prevents blastocyst formation, but its role in other mammals remains unclear. TEAD4 ablation in bovine embryos did not impede TE differentiation or blastocyst formation, but a transcriptomic analysis was performed to see if there were any transcriptomic anomalies in knockout embryos. Overall design: RNAseq analysis was performed on five D8 in vitro produced wild type (WT) and four TEAD4 -/- (KO) bovine embryos generated by conventional CRISPR/Cas9 system.