Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Chromatin spread of a mouse embryonic ovarian germ cell during pachytene stage. The SMC5/6 complex component SMC6 (red) is observed along chromosome axes (SYCP3, blue) and pericentromeric heterochromatin and is essential for formation of segregation-competent bivalent chromosomes during meiosis I in mouse oocytes. Transient SMC6 foci observed during pachynema do not overlap with MLH1 foci (crossover event, green). See Research article by Hwang et al. on p. 1648.
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IN THIS ISSUE
SPOTLIGHTS
An interview with John Gurdon
Summary: John Gurdon, who was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, talks to us about his career and his thoughts on the past, present and future of reprogramming.
Human organomics: a fresh approach to understanding human development using single-cell transcriptomics
Summary: This Spotlight article summarizes the different approaches to performing single-cell transcriptomics on organoids, highlighting how they can generate mechanistic models of human development and disease.
REVIEW
Development of the hypothalamus: conservation, modification and innovation
Summary: This Review discusses the factors involved in hypothalamic induction, patterning and differentiation, highlighting how changes in Wnt signaling may lead to species-specific hypothalamic form and function.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
FGFR2 is required for airway basal cell self-renewal and terminal differentiation
Summary: During adult airway epithelial homeostasis in mice, FGFR2 signalling is required for self-renewing divisions of basal stem cells and to maintain expression of the key transcription factor SOX2.
Numb regulates somatic cell lineage commitment during early gonadogenesis in mice
Highlighted article: Numb establishes cell polarity in the gonadal coelomic epithelium and is required for asymmetric cell division and somatic cell fate specification during gonadogenesis.
TOPLESS mediates brassinosteroid control of shoot boundaries and root meristem development in Arabidopsis thaliana
Summary: The co-repressor TOPLESS binds via BES1 to CUC3 and BRAVO promoters and plays a crucial role in BR-mediated control of organ boundary formation in the shoot and cell division in the root.
RESEARCH REPORT
Hox-mediated endodermal identity patterns pharyngeal muscle formation in the chordate pharynx
Summary: Hox1 establishes axial identity in the Ciona endostyle, which is a structure in the pharyngeal endoderm. This regional patterning is, in turn, essential for pharyngeal muscle formation.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
CDC42 is required for epicardial and pro-epicardial development by mediating FGF receptor trafficking to the plasma membrane
Highlighted article: During epicardial formation in mice, four different mechanisms of pro-epicardial cell translocation to the myocardium can be identified, with CDC42 playing a key role.
SMC5/6 is required for the formation of segregation-competent bivalent chromosomes during meiosis I in mouse oocytes
Summary: The SMC5/6 complex is essential for female fertility in mice, controlling chromosome condensation and the formation of segregation-competent bivalents during meiosis I in mouse oocytes.
BRC1 expression regulates bud activation potential but is not necessary or sufficient for bud growth inhibition in Arabidopsis
Summary: BRC1 is neither necessary nor sufficient for bud growth inhibition in a variety of contexts; instead, it likely modulates bud activation potential within a wider system of bud activity control.
Inhibition of ectopic microtubule assembly by the kinesin-13 KLP-7 prevents chromosome segregation and cytokinesis defects in oocytes
Summary: In C. elegans oocytes, the kinesin-13 KLP-7 prevents ectopic microtubule assembly and cytokinesis defects, highlighting a key role for kinesin-13 proteins when centrosome activity is defective or absent.
Glutathione peroxidase 4 inhibits Wnt/β-catenin signaling and regulates dorsal organizer formation in zebrafish embryos
Summary: The selenoenzyme Gpx4 regulates Wnt signaling and hence zebrafish axis formation by preventing the binding of Tcf/Lefs to the promoters of Wnt target genes, independently of selenocysteine activation.
Regulation of Brn3b by DLX1 and DLX2 is required for retinal ganglion cell differentiation in the vertebrate retina
Summary: Dlx1/2 homeobox genes regulate retinal ganglion cell (RGC) differentiation by directly activating Brn3b expression; accordingly, Dlx1/Dlx2/Brn3b triple-knockout mice exhibit near complete RGC loss.
Wnt proteins contribute to neuromuscular junction formation through distinct signaling pathways
Summary: Wnt4 and Wnt11 cooperatively contribute to NMJ formation in mice through activation of both the canonical and Vangl2-dependent core planar cell polarity pathways.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
SEGGA: a toolset for rapid automated analysis of epithelial cell polarity and dynamics
Highlighted article: SEGGA is an easy to use software that allows for the quantitative analysis of changes in cell shape, movement and polarity at single-cell resolution during epithelial remodeling in various species.
CORRECTION
Correction: Prdm16 is crucial for progression of the multipolar phase during neural differentiation of the developing neocortex
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