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Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Second, ZGA genes shared functional enrichments across species, particularly on gene expression and RNA processing. In fact, studying also the genes activated 1 or 2 stages after ZGA, we found conserved functional switches that reflect the temporal needs of early development. 11/15

Functional enrichments of MAT, ZGA and subsequently activated genes reflect the dynamics and needs of early development

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Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Finally, we studied the genomic and regulatory conservation of ZGA and MAT genes. At the genomic (G) level, ZGA genes were much less conserved and evolutionarily novel than other genes, whereas MAT genes were highly conserved. 12/15

Genomic conservation of ZGA and MAT gene sets

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Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Similarly, while ZGA expression was conserved only among specific clades (e.g. within mammals or within nematodes) and at low levels, MAT genes were broadly shared across taxa. Indeed, while we identified only 1 broadly shared ZGA gene, we found > 500 MAT ones! 13/15

Regulatory conservation of MAT and ZGA gene sets

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