Taylor group

Our research group seeks to serve female health and fertility needs by answering the unresolved question: how do primordial follicles activate? Uncovering the mechanisms driving ovarian follicle activation will potentially allow us to alter the rate of ovarian degeneration, extending the limited female reproductive lifespan and delaying the onset of menopause.

Group members

Elena Yu, PhD student (University of Edinburgh, UK) 

Terri Simmons, undergraduate student (University of Edinburgh, UK)

Brendan Crow, co-supervised PhD student (University of Newcastle, Australia & The Francis Crick Institute, UK) 

Sumit Garai, co-supervised PhD student (The Francis Crick Institute, UK) 

Research interests

Ovarian development

We are interested in the developmental origins of the supporting granulosa cells of the vertebrate ovary and their regionalisation within the developing and adult ovary. 

Primordial follicle activation 

We are seeking to uncover the signal initiating follicle activation via the supporting pregranulosa cells of primordial follicles. 

Gene Regulatory Networks and Evolution 

We have a longstanding interest in the assembly and testing of gene regulatory networks. We use these approaches to investigate the evolutionary conservation of molecular mechanisms of activation in amniote model systems.

Selected recent publications

1. Williams, R.M., Taylor, G., Ling, I.T.C., Candido-Ferreira, I., Fountain, D.M., Mayes, S., Ates-Kalkan, P.S., Haug, J.O., Price, A.J., McKinney, S.A., Bozhilovh, Y. K., Tyser, R.C.V., Srinivas, S., Hughes, J., and Sauka-Spengler, T. (2024) Chromatin remodeller Chd7 is developmentally regulated in the neural crest by tissue-specific transcription factors, PLOS Biology, PMID: 39418292
2. Frost, E.R., Ford, E.A., Peters, A.E., Lovell-Badge, R., Taylor, G., McLaughlin, E.A., Sutherland, J. (2022) A new understanding, guided by single cell sequencing, of the establishment and maintenance of the ovarian reserve in mammals, Sexual Development, PMID: 36122567
3. Frost, E.R.* & Ford, E.A.*, Taylor, G., Boeing, S., Beckett, E.L., Roman, S.D., Lovell-Badge, R., McLaughlin, E.A., Sutherland, J. (2021) Two alternative methods for the dissociation of mouse ovarian tissue to retrieve somatic cell populations, Molecular Human Reproduction, PMID: 33973015
4. Frost, E.R., Taylor, G., Baker, M., Lovell-Badge, R., and Sutherland, J. (2021) Establishing and maintaining fertility: The importance of cell cycle arrest, Genes & Development,PMID: 33888561
5. Ioannidis, J.* & Taylor, G.*, Zhao, D., Liu, L., Idoko-Akoh, A., Gong, D., Lovell-Badge, R., Guioli, S., McGrew, M. and Clinton, M. (2021) Primary sex determination in chickens depends on DMRT1 dosage, but gonadal sex does not determine secondary sexual characteristics in adult birds, PNAS, PMID: 33658372
6. Lukoseviciute, M., Ling, I.T.C., Senanayake, U., Candido-Ferreira, I., Taylor, G., Williams, R.M., and Sauka-Spengler, T. (2020) Tissue-Specific in vivo biotin chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (biotin ChIP-seq) in zebrafish and chicken. STAR Protocols,PMID: 33111104
7. Williams, R.M.* & Senanayake, U.*, Artibani, M., Taylor, G., Wells, D., Ahmed, A.A., and Sauka-Spengler, T. (2018) Genome and epigenome engineering CRISPR toolkit for in vivo modulation of cis-regulatory interactions and gene expression in the chicken embryo. Development, PMID: 29386245

Media engagement

'A to Z of the Biosciences: Letter G', Royal Society of Biology (YouTube)

'A scientist's journey into revolutionising human reproduction', The Royal Society (YouTube)

'Dawkins re-examined': Dawkins' legacy, The Institute of Art and Ideas (YouTube)

Collaborators

Internal

Richard Anderson

External

Robin Lovell-Badge, The Francis Crick Institute, UK

Jessie Sutherland, University of Newcastle, Australia

Natalya Nikitina, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

Dorit Hockman, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Jennifer McKey, University of Colorado, USA

James DiFrisco, The Francis Crick Institute, UK

Funders

BBSRC (UKRI)

Rosetrees Trust 

Alumni

Dr Emily Frost (UNSW, Australia) 

Charlotte Cody, undergraduate student (University of Edinburgh) 

Catie Thomson, Master’s student (University of Edinburgh)