A Schnurri/Mad/Medea complex attenuates the dorsal-twist gradient readout at vnd

► A Schnurri:Mad:Medea silencer is conserved at the vnd neuroectodermal enhancer. ► SMM silencer element restricts expression of vnd in the dorsal embryonic ectoderm. ► SSE allows vnd NEE to have an early temporal (low threshold) response to dorsal. ► SSE can also attenuate NEEs that drive broad ectodermal expression.