The earliest events of embryogenesis are controlled by maternal gene products in the oocyte, but at some point after fertilization the zygotic genome becomes activated. Many of the early transcribed genes in Drosophila share a cis-regulatory heptamer motif. This paper reports that the zinc-finger protein, Zelda, binds specifically to these sites, and is capable of activating transcription in transient transfection assays.
- Hsiao-Lan Liang
- Chung-Yi Nien
- Christine Rushlow
