6/ Generation and analysis of T2T, gap-free sex chromosomes also identified the previously unannotated lncRNA Rsx, responsible for silencing the paternal X chromosome, as well as global hypomethylation of the inactive X in females, except for genes that escape inactivation.

5/ We found that the dunnart shows extensive DNA hypomethylation in the blastocyst, but this 5mC loss occurs in the trophectoderm only. While the use of 5mC erasure differs between eutherians and marsupials, 5mC erasure in the TE is ancestral to therians and may support placental development.

4/ In collaboration with Ira Deveson’s lab @garvaninstitute.bsky.social, we generated a near-complete, telomere-to-telomere genome assembly. This improved genome provided a robust reference to explore embryonic 5mC using EM-seq and scBS-seq.

3/ Given their unique evolutionary position, marsupials can help us understand whether 5mC erasure is unique to eutherian mammals, and how this relates to placental evolution. The fat-tailed dunnart, an Australian marsupial, has recently emerged as a model species for comparative dev bio.

2/ Eutherian mammals, like mice and humans, undergo global 5mC erasure in embryonic and extraembryonic lineages. While embryonic 5mC is restored after implantation, trophectoderm derivatives remain lowly methylated, suggesting 5mC loss is functionally linked to placental evolution in mammals.

SAVE THE DATE! Join us for the 2025 @anzscdb.bsky.social
NSW Branch Cell & Developmental Biology Symposium at the Garvan Institute @garvaninstitute.bsky.social on Wed 5 Nov 2025. Keynote speakers include Dougall Norris, @katequinlan.bsky.social, Silvia Velasco and @ryanlister.bsky.social 🔬🧠🧫