Issues

Summary: New insights into the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms underlying plant germline development in sexual and asexual species are discussed.

Summary: The current status of the neural crest gene regulatory network is reviewed, emphasizing the connections between transcription factors, signalling molecules and epigenetic modifiers.

Highlighted article: In the adult mouse lung, Notch3 identifies a population of parabasal cells and regulates the balance between basal and parabasal progenitor pools.

Higlighted article: In the Drosophila testis, profilin and septate junction components are required for encapsulation and isolation of the germline by a somatic permeability barrier.

Summary: In the mouse skin, the C-terminus of p63 regulates the expression of p21^Waf1/Cip, a cylin independent kinase inhibitor, to maintain stem cell proliferation.

Summary: The C. elegans chromodomain protein MRG-1 promotes proliferation in the germline, and its activity is regulated by the putative E3 ubiquitin ligase RFP-1 and proteasomal degradation.

Summary: Heterochronic grafting experiments using postnatal or adult SVZ progenitors reveal key differences in the connective properties of the neurons generated.

Summary: Although VEGF165 was thought to be the sole VEGF isoform acting through neuropilin 1 (NRP1), VEGF189 also binds to and signals through NRP1 in several types of developing mouse neurons.

Highlighted article: In the zebrafish fin, a Wnt gradient dictates the expression of laminin α5, which signals via integrin α3 to control epithelial cell morphology.

Highlighted article: Enteric neural crest cells act as a new mediator in the mesenchymal-epithelial interactions that control proper patterning and differentiation in the chick stomach.

Summary: In mouse ovaries, meiotic progression and primordial follicle formation are regulated by cAMP levels in oocytes through the disassembly and degradation of synaptonemal complex protein 1.

Summary: Sertoli cell-specific disruption of upf2, a component of the nonsense-mediated decay machinery, leads to global defects in transcription, Sertoli and germ cell depletion, and sterility.

Summary: In the tracheal system of the Drosophila embryo, microtubules mediate the shuttling of E-cadherin and Par3 to the apical compartment via dynein powered recycling endosomes.

Summary: Disrupting the calcium sensor calmodulin 1 in mouse precerebellar neurons impairs both radial and tangential migration of these cells, while Calm2 or 3 depletion has no effect.

Summary: Inactivation of zbtb20 in developing mouse chondrocytes results in delayed endochondral ossification, due to increased Sox9 and reduced Vegfa expression in the mutant tissue.

Summary: Genetic tools, and 3D correlative light and electron microscopy allow the dissection of the mechanisms governing synaptogenesis at single-cell resolution in the Drosophila CNS.