Issues

Summary: We are delighted to announce that James Briscoe will be taking over from Olivier Pourquié as the journal's Editor-in-Chief. In this Editorial, we also share some of the feedback we received during our recent community consultation.

Summary: Ben Barres changed our view of glial cell function and impacted the lives of many people who interacted with him. Remembering an outstanding scientist and mentor.

Summary: James Briscoe, who will become Development's Editor-in-Chief later this year, talks about his career and research interests, the importance of interdisciplinary thinking, the value of Twitter and the future of scientific publishing.

Summary: Susan Strome, who was recently appointed an editor at Development, talks about the value and future prospects of C. elegans research, wise career path choices, and the importance of teaching.

Summary: This Review discusses evidence linking CTCF to the control of developmental processes in various cell and tissue types through 3D organization of the genome.

Summary: This Review summarizes how tissue-specific TFs cooperate with each other and super-enhancers to determine cell types, the mechanisms of redundancy and stability in such networks, and how they are rewired during mESC differentiation.

Summary: Pluripotent stem cells are used to generate early paraxial mesoderm and subsequently to recapitulate the stages of musculoskeletal progenitor specification and differentiation into muscle.

Summary: Immunohistochemical and transcriptomic analyses of organoids generated from precancerous adenoma, colon adenocarcinoma and normal human tissue shows that the intestinal stem cell marker LGR5 is a colon cancer prognostic factor.

Summary: Maternally transmitted endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia target polar cells – a somatic cell type involved in patterning of the Drosophila egg – and coordinate their intracellular accumulation with polar cell fate specification.

Summary: Genomic analyses in mice reveal integrated actions of hindlimb-restricted transcription factors Tbx4, Hoxc10 and Pitx1, and identify a novel composite T-box–Hox DNA motif that integrates Hox modulation of Tbx-dependent transcription.

Highlighted Article: Polycystin 1, which is mutated in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, relies on its binding to a select class of trimeric G proteins and its loss of function results in a hyper-sensitization of co-expressed GPCRs.

Summary: Nir controls basal cell proliferation, stratification via the initiation of asymmetric cell division, and cell fate decisions in mouse embryonic epidermis by regulating p63 expression and preventing p53 hyperacetylation.

Highlighted Article: Stomatal transcription factors define GMC-specific expression of the D-type cyclin CYCD7;1, which promotes the G1/S transition in partnership with RBR1, enabling a direct link between cell cycle control and developmental fate decisions in Arabidopsis leaves.

Summary: Epigenomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal that the histone demethylase Jmjd3 regulates the transition from Ngn3-low to Ngn3-high cells, a key event in deriving pancreatic endocrine progenitors.

Summary: In this species of butterfly, insulin primarily stimulates cytoplasmic growth and an increase in cell size, whereas ecdysone stimulates growth by increasing cell numbers through DNA synthesis and mitosis.

Summary: Deletion of Mob1a/b in chondrocytes inhibits their proliferation and differentiation/maturation, causing reduced cartilaginous growth plates and shortened long bones due to defective endochondral ossification and the downregulation of ECM genes.

Summary: In addition to a role in terminal arbor development in association with Wg/Ank2/Futsch, Drosophila DAAM has a modulatory function in synaptic transmission associated with its Brp-dependent recruitment to the active zone scaffold.

Summary: Dzip1l functions in ciliary initiation and morphogenesis and the integrity of the transition zone, with mutants showing reduced Hedgehog signaling between Smo and Sufu, expanded brain size and polydactyly.

Highlighted Article: Delayed male germ cell sex specification facilitates the transformation of germ cells with naïve pluripotent properties into primed pluripotent-like embryonal carcinoma cells, the tumor stem cells of testicular germ cell tumors.

Summary: The molecular clock is associated with crucial biological processes, but little is known about its role in development. Here, we show that PER2 plays a key role in mammary gland development.

Summary: Glycogen metabolism is regulated in a tissue-specific manner, independently of the glucagon homolog Akh, to maintain trehalose levels under starvation conditions in Drosophila.

Summary: By regulating ecdysone production, neuropeptide PTTH controls the duration of the larval growth period and is a nexus for the coordination of environmental inputs and adaptive plasticity.

Summary: A novel method for automated and quantitative assessment of complex cell shapes, including features such as protrusion number and amplitude, is demonstrated for Arabidopsis, Drosophila and in silico cells.

Summary: A novel three-dimensional sperm tracking approach based on functional optical coherence tomography using endogenous contrast reveals previously unseen sperm behaviors in the mouse oviduct ampulla in vivo.

Summary: Transcriptomic analysis of pre-oviposited avian embryos reveals two distinct programs during early development and a gradual increase in similarity of gene expression in mammalian embryos at equivalent stages.