On the fast track to organizer gene expression.
Many embryonic species are initially transcriptionally quiescent after fertilization. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Blythe et al. reveal that beta-catenin acts very early in Xenopus development to specifically modify the chromatin of organizer genes, poising them for rapid activation when transcription begins.
Kimelman
David
D
Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-7350, USA. kimelman@u.washington.edu