The single cell transcriptional landscape of female primordial germ cell differentiation

Female primordial germ cell differentiation undergoes sex determination and meiosis initiation asynchronously. Here we investigate the transcriptional profiles of 20519 single cells collected from E12.5, E14.5 and E16.5 mouse fetal ovaries. Clustering analysis identifies ten clusters and defines dozens of corresponding marker genes and provides a global view of cellular differentiation from undifferentiated primordial germ cells towards meiotic oocytes. We explore the dynamics of gene expression within the differentiation trajectory with special focus on the mechanisms for meiotic initiation. Single cell sequencing on primordial germ cells was performed. Oct4-EGFP+ primordial germ cells were sorted from E12.5, E14.5 and E16.5 fetal gonads through MoFLo XDP.