Continued activity of the pioneer factor Zelda is required to drive zygotic genome activation

Reprogramming cell fate during the first stages of embryogenesis requires that transcriptional activators gain access to the genome and remodel the zygotic transcriptome. Nonetheless, it is not clear if the continued activity of these pioneering factors is required throughout zygotic genome activation or if they are only required early to establish cis-regulatory regions. To address this question, we developed an optogenetic strategy to rapidly and reversibly inactivate the master regulator of genome activation in Drosophila, Zelda. Using this strategy, we demonstrated that continued Zelda activity is required throughout genome activation. We showed that Zelda binds DNA in the context of nucleosomes and suggest that this allows Zelda to occupy the genome despite the rapid division cycles in the early embryo. These data identify a powerful strategy to inactivate transcription factor function during development and suggest that reprogramming in the embryo may require specific, continuous pioneering functions to activate the genome. Overall design: RNA-seq transcriptomic profiling of Drosophila melanogaster embryos either wild-type or with optogenetically inactivated Zelda.