The rebirth of repressive chromatin during early vertebrate development

Abstract Following fertilization, gamete‐specific chromatin configurations must be reset to allow for the rebirth of an embryo‐specific chromatin landscape capable of driving organismal development. During early cell divisions, the rebuilding of embryonic chromatin requires the renewed delineation of transcriptionally permissive and repressive chromatin states across the genome. This review summarizes our current understanding of how repressive chromatin states are reborn during vertebrate embryogenesis. We highlight both shared and divergent features across species, emphasizing well‐characterized mouse and zebrafish models.