Emergence of the subapical domain is associated with the midblastula transition

Epithelial domains and cell polarity are determined by polarity proteins which are associated with the cell cortex in a spatially restricted pattern. Early Drosophila embryos are characterized by a stereotypic dynamic and de novo formation of cortical domains. For example, the subapical domain emerges at the transition from syncytial to cellular development during the first few minutes of interphase 14. The dynamics in cortical patterning is revealed by the subapical markers Canoe/Afadin and ELMO-Sponge, which widely distributed in interphase 13 but subapically restricted in interphase 14. The factors and mechanism determining the timing for the emergence of the subapical domain have been unknown. In this study, we show, that the restricted localization of subapical markers depends on the onset of zygotic gene expression. In contrast to cell cycle remodeling, the emergence of the subapical domain does not depend on the nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio. Thus, we define cortical dynamics and specifically the emergence of the subapical domain as a feature of the midblastula transition.