During embryogenesis there is a major switch from dependence upon 
maternally-deposited products to reliance on products of the zygotic genome. In 
animals, this so-called maternal-to-zygotic transition occurs following a period 
of transcriptional quiescence. Recently, we have shown that the early embryo in 
Arabidopsis is also quiescent, a state inherited from the female gamete and 
linked to specific patterns of H3K9 dimethylation and TERMINAL FLOWER2 (TFL2) 
localization. We also demonstrated that CHROMOMETHYLASE 3 (CMT3) is required for 
H3K9 dimethylation in the egg cell and for normal embryogenesis during the first 
few divisions of the zygote. Subsequent analysis of CMT3 mutants points to a key 
role in egg cell reprogramming by controlling silencing in both transposon and 
euchromatic regions. A speculative model of the CMT3-induced egg cell silencing 
is presented here, based on these results and current data from the literature 
suggesting the potential involvement of small RNAs targeted to the egg cell, a 
process conceptually similar to the division of labor described in the male 
gametophyte for which we show that H3K9 modifications and TFL2 localization are 
reminiscent of the female gametophyte.