Genome-wide chromatin accessibility during early embryogenesis in a generalist cichlid fish

Genome-wide ATAC-seq in Astatotilapia calliptera embryos finds 550,876–701,889 accessible chromatin peaks per stage, with early development dominated by chromatin opening.

• Why it matters: Lake Malawi cichlids diversify rapidly, but how regulatory regions control embryonic development is unclear; a generalist lineage provides a baseline for comparing later divergence.
• What they did: The study profiled embryos at 3, 7, and 12 days post-fertilisation using ATAC-seq, then mapped promoter and noncoding-element accessibility, differential opening/closing, and transcription factor footprints.
• The result: Promoter gene repertoires shift from early patterning at 3 dpf to broad regulation at 7 dpf and neural/locomotory enrichment by 12 dpf; early transitions show opening dominance, and 96% of promoter losses at 7 vs 12 dpf occur at promoters opened between 3 and 7 dpf.

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