Involved in early development of embryos, especially in the process of gastrulation. May play an important role in establishing and specifying rhombomeric segments. Seems to be required to maintain the cells in a highly undifferentiated state. In contrast to POU2, T-POU2 lacks DNA-binding activity because of its incomplete pou domain structure. Overexpression of POU2 does not have any effect on development, whereas overexpression of t-POU2 causes developmental retardation or arrest before gastrulation. Maternally expressed. Present from the one-cell stage to the gastrula stage. Present in all blastomeres until the midblastula stage. The expression is restricted to the epiblast during gastrulation, and to the neural plate after gastrulation. In the adult, expression is limited to the ovary. Belongs to the POU transcription factor family. Class-7 subfamily.