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. 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.