Issues

Summary: In this Editorial, we take stock of the ever-evolving scope of Development, which reflects changes in the field and future priorities for the journal.

Summary: Emerging evidence on the phenomenon of non-DNA sequence-based inheritance in multiple species, including mammals, urges a rethinking of the nature of hereditary information carriers and the ways in which they encode heritable traits.

Summary: This Primer provides an overview of DNA adenine methyltransferase identification (DamID), which is used to profile genome-wide chromatin interactions, and introduces recent improvements to the technology.

Highlighted Article: Analysis of human embryonic stem cell micropatterns reveals that E-cadherin mediates a WNT-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal wave analogous to primitive streak extension and DKK1 controls the extent and duration of this patterning.

Summary: Single cell transcriptomic analysis of undifferentiated germ cells in neonatal mouse testes reveals heterogeneity of gene expression across subpopulations and time, identifying potential novel transcriptional regulators during germ cell differentiation.

Summary: Iduna regulates stem cell proliferation and intestinal homeostasis.

Summary: Maize drl1 and drl2 modulate floral meristem activity through a non-cell-autonomous mechanism that signals from lateral organ primordia to the floral meristem to regulate the development of grain-producing florets.

Highlighted Article: Auto-inhibition and regulation by aPKC/PKC-3 function in parallel to restrict the kinase activity of the cell polarity regulator PAR-1 to the posterior cytoplasm of C. elegans zygotes.

Summary: si:ch73-299h12.2 (bif1), a gene of unknown function in the zebrafish genome, codes for a zinc-finger protein that inhibits BMP signaling and also regulates primitive erythropoiesis and definitive hematopoiesis.

Summary: Differentiation of adult myoblasts requires the interaction of β-catenin with MyoD but not with TCF/LEF; future selective targeting of different β-catenin complexes might allow inhibition of TCF/LEF-dependent fibrosis whilst sparing myoblast differentiation.

Summary: The Drosophila Tv1 neuropeptide neuron is specified, not by one single regulatory gene, but by several regulators acting in different combinations to govern different aspects of this cell fate.

Summary: A gene regulatory network that generates a diarch vascular pattern in Arabidopsis roots can produce the range of patterns seen in flowering plants under different spatial constraints.

Highlighted Article: Two geminin family proteins function in mammalian multiciliated cell development: GMNC regulates precursor specification and MCIDAS induces multiple basal body formation for multiciliation.

Summary: DIV-MARIS, an adapted technique for examining stage- and cell type-specific gene expression, reveals a complex network of mRNAs and lncRNAs expressed in specific cell types during early Drosophila embryonic nervous system development.

Summary: Detailed protocols for the propagation, manipulation and differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells, with tips for minimising variability and improving the efficiency, reproducibility and reliability of embryonic stem cell culture.

Summary: A novel dedicated multi-sample light sheet imaging, processing and analysis platform is presented, and its value in diverse quantitative long-term imaging studies, such as vascular growth in zebrafish, is demonstrated.