Florence L. Marlow is at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, USA

• Part I Meiosis and production of the oocyte and egg1. Post-transcriptional gene regulation regulates germline stem cell to oocyte transition during Drosophila oogenesisPatrick Blatt, Elliot T. Martin, Shane M. Breznak and Prashanth Rangan2. Maternal inheritance of centromeres through the germlineArunika Das, Ben E. Black and Michael A. Lampson3. Signaling between somatic follicle cells and the germline patterns the egg and embryo of DrosophilaJulie A. Merkle, Julia Wittes and Trudi Schüpbach4. Organizing the oocyte: RNA localization meets phase separationSarah E. Cabral and Kimberly L. MowryPart II Fertilization and germline specification5. Species-specific mechanisms during fertilizationKrista R. Gert and Andrea Pauli6. The role of the cytoskeleton in germ plasm aggregation and compaction in the zebrafish embryoCara E. Moravec and Francisco Pelegri7. Dead end and Detour: The function of the RNA-binding protein Dnd in posttranscriptional regulation in the germlineTheresa Gross-Thebing and Erez Raz8. From mother to embryo: A molecular perspective on zygotic genome activationEdlyn Wu and Nadine L. VastenhouwPart III Maternal regulation of embryonic patterning and morphogenesis9. Maternal regulation of seed growth and patterning in flowering plantsAllison R. Phillips and Matthew M.S. Evans10. Maternal factors regulating symmetry breaking and dorsal–ventral axis formation in the sea urchin embryoMaria Dolores Molina and Thierry Lepage11. Maternal factors regulating preimplantation development in miceDi Wu and Jurrien Dean12. The maternal coordinate system: Molecular-genetics of embryonic axis formation and patterning in the zebrafishRicardo Fuentes, Benjamin Tajer, Manami Kobayashi, Jose L. Pelliccia, Yvette Langdon, Elliott W. Abrams and Mary C. Mullins13. Maternal contributions to gastrulation in zebrafishLilianna Solnica-Krezel