TBP2/TFIIA complex drives an oocyte-type promoter usage grammar leading to female germ cell specific mRNA and endogenous retroviral element transcription

The transcriptional machinery involved in RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription during oogenesis is not well characterized. In somatic cells, the Pol II general transcription factor, TFIID, containing the TATA binding protein (TBP) and 13 TBP-associated factors, is the first to bind gene promoters to nucleate pre-initiation complex formation. During oocyte growth TBP is replaced by TBP2 and Tbp2-/- female mice are sterile. Here, we show that in oocytes TBP2 stably associates with TFIIA but does not assemble into a TFIID-type complex but stabily associates with TFIIA. we demonstrate that in female germ cells the specific TBP2-TFIIA-containing transcription machinery drives transcription from oocyte-specific core promoters, which are different from those occupied by TBP/TFIID in somatic cells.