Cell Cycle Remodeling and Zygotic Gene Activation at the Midblastula Transition

Following fertilization, vertebrate embryos delay large-scale activation of the zygotic genome from several hours in fish and amphibians to several days in mammals. Externally developing embryos also undergo synchronous and extraordinarily rapid cell divisions that are accelerated by promiscuous licensing of DNA replication origins, absence of gap phases and cell cycle checkpoints, and preloading of the egg with maternal RNAs and proteins needed to drive early development. After a species-specific number of cell divisions, the cell cycle slows and becomes asynchronous, gap phases appear, checkpoint functions are acquired, and large-scale zygotic gene activation begins. These events, along with clearance of maternal RNAs and proteins, define the maternal to zygotic transition and are coordinated at a developmental milestone termed the midblastula transition (MBT). Despite the relative quiescence of the zygotic genome in vertebrate embryos, genes required for clearance of maternal RNAs and for the initial steps in mesoderm induction are robustly transcribed before MBT. The coordination and timing of the MBT depends on a mechanism that senses the ratio of nuclear to cytoplasmic content as well as mechanisms that are independent of the nuclear-cytoplasm ratio. Changes in chromatin architecture anticipate zygotic gene activation, and maternal transcription factors identified as regulators of pluripotency play critical roles in kick-starting the transition from the proliferative, pluripotent state of the early embryo to the more lineage-committed phase of development after the MBT. This chapter describes the regulation of the cell cycle and the activation of zygotic gene expression before and after the MBT in vertebrate embryos.