zygotically

Zygotically is an adverb used in biology to describe processes, events, or states that occur in the zygote—the fertilized egg formed by the union of gametes. In developmental biology, the term denotes phenomena tied to the zygotic stage, as distinct from contributions inherited from the parents through the gametes.

The word is commonly employed to indicate actions that take place from the zygote onward, such as zygotically expressed genes or zygotically activated programs during early embryogenesis. A central related concept is the maternal-to-zygotic transition, in which control of development shifts from maternally supplied transcripts to the zygotic genome. For example, researchers may describe the timing of zygotic genome activation or the onset of zygotic transcription as occurring zygotically.

Etymology and form: zygotically derives from zygote, combined with the adverbial suffix -ically. The root zygote itself comes from Greek zygon, meaning “yoke” or “to join,” reflecting the zygote’s role as the joining of gametes.

See also: zygote, zygotic genome activation, maternal-to-zygotic transition, developmental biology, embryogenesis.

In summary, zygotically serves as a precise, though specialized, term for describing processes that originate in or pertain to the zygote during early development.