The first wave of the zygotic transcription is highly promiscuous and uncoupled from splicing and 3 prime end processing.. The first wave of the zygotic transcription is highly promiscuous and uncoupled from splicing and 3 prime end processing.

Initiation of zygotic transcription in mammals is poorly understood. In mice, zygotic transcription is first detected shortly after pronucleus formation in 1-cell embryos but the identity of the transcribed loci and mechanisms regulating their expression are not known. Using total RNA-seq we find that transcription in 1-cell embryos is highly promiscuous such that intergenic regions are extensively expressed and thousands of genes are transcribed at relatively low levels.

哺乳动物合子转录（zygotic transcription）的起始机制目前仍未被充分阐释。在小鼠中，合子转录最早可在1细胞胚胎的原核（pronucleus）形成后不久被检测到，但目前尚未明确其中被转录的基因座及其表达调控机制。本研究利用总RNA测序（total RNA-seq）技术发现，1细胞胚胎中的转录活动具有高度非特异性：基因间区域被广泛转录，同时存在数千个基因以相对较低的水平进行转录。