STAT is an essential activator of the zygotic genome in the early Drosophila embryo.

ABSTRACT: In many organisms, transcription of the zygotic genome begins during the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT), which is characterized by a dramatic increase in global transcriptional activities and coincides with embryonic stem cell differentiation. In Drosophila, it has been shown that maternal morphogen gradients and ubiquitously distributed general transcription factors may cooperate to upregulate zygotic genes that are essential for pattern formation in the early embryo. Here, we show that Drosophila STAT (STAT92E) functions as a general transcription factor that, together with the transcription factor Zelda, induces transcription of a large number of early-transcribed zygotic genes during the MZT. STAT92E is present in the early embryo as a maternal product and is active around the MZ

SUBMITTER: Tsurumi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3102735 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature