The determination of chromatin for transcription during early development as well as the requirement for trans-acting factors during this period has been analysed in Xenopus. Basal transcription is repressed both during oogenesis and after the mid-blastula transition (MBT), and transactivators are required to relieve this repression. In contrast, transactivators cannot overcome the generalized transcriptional repression which occurs in embryos before MBT. However, they do bind to promoters leading to a repressed but preset chromatin structure. Experiments involving the pre-binding of TATA binding protein (TBP) or of the strong transactivator GAL4-VP16 further show that there is no limiting factor before the MBT, and that it is the recruitment and stabilization of the basal transcription machinery and not of transactivators which is repressed during early development. This multi-step process in gene activation, with activation of promoters temporally uncoupled from their commitment, may be of importance in the regulation of early embryonic events by providing molecular signposts for future determinations.