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Science 20 April 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5823, pp. 406 - 407
DOI: 10.1126/science.1140693
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Review

The Maternal-Zygotic Transition: Death and Birth of RNAs

Alexander F. Schier

Maternal gene products drive early development when the newly formed embryo is transcriptionally inactive. During the maternal-zygotic transition, embryonic transcription is initiated and many maternal RNAs are degraded. Multiple mechanisms regulate the birth of zygotic RNAs and the death of maternal RNAs. Genome activation appears to rely in part on the sequestration of transcriptional repressors by the exponentially increasing amount of DNA during cleavage divisions. Maternal RNA degradation is induced by the binding of proteins and microRNAs to the 3' untranslated region of target RNAs.

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Center for Brain Science, Broad Institute, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Room 1027, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

E-mail: schier{at}fas.harvard.edu

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