Xiao-Yong Li, Melissa M Harrison ... Michael B Eisen
Drosophila melanogaster embryos undergo a dramatic genomic transformation in the hour preceding gastrulation, as thousands of promoters and regulatory regions become biochemically distinct before they become active.
Soon after fertilisation, a critical portion of the embryonic genome is switched on through the actions of maternally inherited Stella, in part through controlling the activation of transposable elements.
ME31B is a general repressor of gene expression in the Drosophila early embryo, repressing translation before the maternal-to-zygotic transition and stimulating mRNA decay after activation of the zygotic genome.
Theodora Koromila, Fan Gao ... Angelike Stathopoulos
The gene Odd-paired is a late-acting regulator of zygotic gene expression, functioning coordinately with Zelda to influence chromatin accessibility and affecting genes expressed along both axes of Drosophila embryos.
Leonardo Gastón Guilgur, Pedro Prudêncio ... Rui Gonçalo Martinho
The need for efficient pre-RNA splicing during early embryonic development of Drosophila indicates that the constraints imposed by the cell cycle are a force capable of driving changes in Eukaryotic gene architecture.
A mathematical model predicts that cell cycle duration acts as a transcriptional filter and directly affects cell diversity in early eukaryotic development.
Marissa M Gaskill, Tyler J Gibson ... Melissa M Harrison
Following fertilization, the pioneering transcription factors GAGA factor (GAF) and Zelda are independently required to reprogram the zygotic genome of Drosophila and activate the first wave of gene expression.
Graham JM Hickey, Candice L Wike ... Bradley R Cairns
Zebrafish early embryos initially package their developmental genes and enhancers in 'active' chromatin that subsequently receives polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1)-mediated histone H2A ubiquitylation, which confers silencing/poising – prior to Aebp2-PRC2-guided H3K27me3 addition.
Mukulika Ray, Ashley Mae Conard ... Erica Larschan
Combining computational and experimental approaches reveals that the loss of a maternal transcription factor influences sex-biased differential splicing in the early zygotic transcriptome at genes that are critical for normal developmental processes.