The document outlines the molecular events that occur during fertilization. It discusses three stages of fertilization: sperm preparation, sperm-egg recognition and binding, and sperm-egg fusion. A key event is the increase in calcium levels in the egg cytoplasm, which prevents additional sperm from entering and signals the completion of meiosis. The fused egg and sperm each contribute a pronucleus, which then replicate their DNA and join during the first mitotic division to form a zygote with a combined genome. Maternal genes play an important role in early embryonic development by regulating processes like meiosis and the transition to embryonic gene expression.