IN THIS ISSUE
REVIEWS
- Spindle orientation: a question of complex positioning
Summary: This Review discusses key features of the spindle-orientating complex and reviews how this complex is regulated and localized to allow correct mitotic spindle orientation.
- Using synthetic biology to explore principles of development
Summary: This Review highlights how synthetic biology-based approaches have been used to explore the principles underlying patterning, differentiation and morphogenesis during development.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
- Enthesis regeneration: a role for Gli1+ progenitor cells
Summary: Tendon enthesis progenitor cells are capable of healing enthesis injuries in immature mice, in a hedgehog pathway-dependent manner. This capacity is lost in mature animals.
- Shh promotes direct interactions between epidermal cells and osteoblast progenitors to shape regenerated zebrafish bone
Highlighted article: In the regenerating zebrafish fin, local Hedgehog signalling between basal epidermal cells and osteoblast progenitors controls ray branching and hence skeletal patterning.
- Diversity of fate outcomes in cell pairs under lateral inhibition
Highlighted article: Notch/Delta signalling in Drosophila intestinal stem cells can result in asymmetric or symmetric outcomes, depending on the activation threshold - which depends on cell contact area.
- Direct conversion of root primordium into shoot meristem relies on timing of stem cell niche development
Highlighted article: Arabidopsis lateral roots can be directly transdifferentiated to shoot identity by cytokinin treatment during a narrow time window of lateral root development.
- Transient translational quiescence in primordial germ cells
Highlighted article: Multiple mechanisms induce quiescence of translation in sea urchin primordial germ cells, including Nanos2-mediated downregulation of eIF1A and a switch to glycolytic metabolism.
- Generation of thalamic neurons from mouse embryonic stem cells
Highlighted article: Using 3D self-organizing culture techniques, thalamic progenitors can be induced from mouse embryonic stem cells, and show appropriate gene expression and axonal projection patterns.
- Tracking the embryonic stem cell transition from ground state pluripotency
Summary: Extinction of mouse embryonic stem cell identity upon differentiation immediately follows collapse of the naïve pluripotency transcription factor circuitry and precedes upregulation of lineage-specific factors.
RESEARCH REPORTS
- Cooperative activation of cardiac transcription through myocardin bridging of paired MEF2 sites
Summary: In mice, bridging of paired MEF2C-bound MEF2 sites in a cardiac enhancer of the Prkaa2 gene by the transcriptional co-activator myocardin promotes cooperativity between the two homotypic elements.
- Phosphorylation potential of Drosophila E-Cadherin intracellular domain is essential for development and adherens junction biosynthetic dynamics regulation
Summary: Phosphorylations of the conserved serine cluster in the Drosophila E-Cadherin intracellular tail are quantitatively rather than site specifically required for its function in adherens junction formation.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Functional characterisation of cis-regulatory elements governing dynamic Eomes expression in the early mouse embryo
Summary: Expression of the mouse T-box factor Eomes is controlled by a key gene-proximal enhancer-like element, with changes in chromatin accessibility influencing its activity in definitive endoderm.
- Mechanical tension and spontaneous muscle twitching precede the formation of cross-striated muscle in vivo
Summary: In Drosophila, immature myofibrils are built simultaneously across an entire muscle fiber, and then self-organize in a manner dependent on spontaneous contractions and mechanical tension.
- A histone H4 lysine 20 methyltransferase couples environmental cues to sensory neuron control of developmental plasticity
Summary: The C. elegans histone methyltransferase SET-4 acts to link environmental signals to diapause through regulation of the X-linked insulin-like peptide gene ins-9 in sensory neurons.
- Genomic integration of Wnt/β-catenin and BMP/Smad1 signaling coordinates foregut and hindgut transcriptional programs
Summary: Genome-wide analysis of Wnt and BMP targets in the Xenopus gut endoderm reveals cooperation and crosstalk between these pathways through integration of Smad1 and β-catenin on cis-regulatory elements.
- CDX2 is essential for cell proliferation and polarity in porcine blastocysts
Summary: The transcription factor CDX2 functions in the trophectoderm of pig embryos to maintain polarity and integrity of the blastocyst, revealing further diversity in CDX2 activities across mammals.
- Distinct intracellular Ca2+ dynamics regulate apical constriction and differentially contribute to neural tube closure
Summary: Two patterns of calcium fluctuation in the Xenopus neural plate control epithelial folding, with extracellular ATP and N-cadherin also participating in calcium-induced apical constriction.
- Epithelial and non-epithelial Ptch1 play opposing roles to regulate proliferation and morphogenesis of the mouse mammary gland
Summary: Systemic and tissue-specific depletion of patched 1 in epithelial and stromal compartments of the mammary gland defines functions in ductal patterning, proliferation and gene expression.
- FGF signaling enforces cardiac chamber identity in the developing ventricle
Summary: The FGF signaling pathway suppresses plasticity in the developing ventricle by promoting ventricular chamber characteristics and inhibiting atrial gene expression via Nkx factors.
- Transcriptome sequencing reveals maelstrom as a novel target gene of the terminal system in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum
Summary: In the short-germ beetle Tribolium, the terminal system regulates axis elongation. Among its targets, the piRNA regulator Maelstrom is crucial for growth-zone formation.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
- Automated cell tracking identifies mechanically oriented cell divisions during Drosophila axis elongation
Summary: Using body axis elongation in Drosophila embryos as a model, novel image analysis and machine learning methods identify cell divisions oriented by mechanical cues to reduce strain.
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An interview with Swathi Arur
Swathi Arur joined the team at Development as an Academic Editor in 2020. Her lab uses multidisciplinary approaches to understand female germline development and fertility. We met with her over Zoom to hear more about her life, her career and her love for C. elegans.
Jim Wells and Hanna Mikkola join our team of Editors
We are pleased to welcome James (Jim) Wells and Hanna Mikkola to our team of Editors. Jim joins us a new Academic Editor, taking over from Gordan Keller, and Hanna joins our team of Associate Editors. Find out more about their research interests and areas of expertise.
New funding scheme supports sustainable events
As part of our Sustainable Conferencing Initiative, we are pleased to announce funding for organisers that seek to reduce the environmental footprint of their event. The next deadline to apply for a Scientific Meeting grant is 26 March 2021.
Read & Publish participation continues to grow
“I’d heard of Read & Publish deals and knew that many universities, including mine, had signed up to them but I had not previously understood the benefits that these deals bring to authors who work at those universities.”
Professor Sally Lowell (University of Edinburgh) shares her experience of publishing Open Access as part of our growing Read & Publish initiative. We now have over 150 institutions in 15 countries and four library consortia taking part – find out more and view our full list of participating institutions.
Upcoming special issues
Imaging Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration
Submission deadline: 30 March 2021
Publication: mid-2021
The Immune System in Development and Regeneration
Guest editors: Florent Ginhoux and Paul Martin
Submission deadline: 1 September 2021
Publication: Spring 2022
Both special issues welcome Review articles as well as Research articles, and will be widely promoted online and at key global conferences.
Development presents...
Our successful webinar series continues into 2021, with early-career researchers presenting their papers and a chance to virtually network with the developmental biology community afterwards. Here, Michèle Romanos talks about her new preprint, which mixes experimentation in quail embryos and computational modelling to understand how heterogeneity in a tissue influences cell rate.
Save your spot at our next session:
10 March
Time: 9:00 (GMT)
Chaired by: Thomas Lecuit
Join our mailing list to receive news and updates on the series.