Screening of functional maternal-specific chromatin regulators in early embryonic development

The early stages of embryonic development rely on maternal products for proper regulation. However, systematic screening for functional maternal-specific factors has been challenging due to the time- and labor-intensive nature of traditional approaches. Here, we combined a computational pipeline and F0 homozygous mutation technology to screen for functional maternal-specific chromatin regulators in zebrafish embryogenesis and identified Mcm3l, Mcm6l, and Npm2a as playing essential roles in DNA replication and cell division. Our results contribute to understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying early embryo development and highlight the importance of maternal-specific chromatin regulators in this critical stage.