BACKGROUND: In many animals, the first few hours of life proceed with little or 
no transcription, and developmental regulation at these early stages is 
dependent on maternal cytoplasm rather than the zygotic nucleus. Translational 
control is critical for early Drosophila embryogenesis and is exerted mainly at 
the gene level. To understand post-transcriptional regulation during Drosophila 
early embryonic development, we used sucrose polysomal gradient analyses and 
GeneChip analysis to illustrate the translation profile of individual mRNAs.
RESULTS: We determined ribosomal density and ribosomal occupancy of over 10,000 
transcripts during the first ten hours after egg laying.
CONCLUSION: We report the extent and general nature of gene regulation at the 
translational level during early Drosophila embryogenesis on a genome-wide 
basis. The diversity of the translation profiles indicates multiple mechanisms 
modulating transcript-specific translation. Cluster analyses suggest that the 
genes involved in some biological processes are co-regulated at the 
translational level at certain developmental stages.