Issues

Summary: This Primer introduces micropatterning as a tool to study development and discusses what we have learnt so far with this technique.

Summary: This Review discusses how sharp patterns of segments and boundaries are formed during hindbrain development.

Summary: Single-cell transcriptome analysis of the neural tube of human embryos from gestational weeks 4-7 provides insight into the molecular complexity and cellular diversity of the developing human spinal cord.

Summary: Analysis of the genome-wide distribution of H4K20me3 in human spermatozoa, including H4K20me3-free nucleosomes, demonstrates a potential dual purpose of paternally transmitted histones: regulation of heterochromatin and guidance towards euchromatin transcription.

Highlighted Article: During development, the first B lymphocytes are produced in the absence of Notch signaling and, thus, independently from HSCs.

Summary: The conserved exocyst complex controls Notch receptor levels on the niche-interacting membrane of Caenorhabditis elegans germline stem cells to regulate their proliferation and maintain fertility.

Summary: Analysis of the osr1 mutant phenotype reveals roles in determining the extent of intermediate mesoderm formation while inhibiting premature differentiation of neighboring vessel progenitors.

Summary:In vivo analysis of rasip1 mutants reveals multiple roles for Rasip1 during angiogenic sprouting, anastomosis and lumen formation, including stabilization of tricellular junctions to permit coordinated cell rearrangements and multicellular tube formation.

Highlighted Article: During Drosophila oogenesis, lipid droplets promote the intercellular transport of the histone anchor Jabba to the oocyte, where it prevents histone degradation.

Summary: Taf15 has an integral and pleiotropic role in the development of dorsoanterior neural tissues via gene regulation that is target and co-factor dependent, subject to the myriad factors present at different stages of development.

Summary: The double-stranded RNA-binding protein STAU2 associates dynamically with RNA determinants that contribute to intermediate progenitor cell diversity and cortical lamination during mouse cerebral cortex development.

Summary: CAP and MSP300 are involved in connecting the nucleus and extracellular matrix during heart formation, which leads to the maintenance of post-mitotic Tinman-positive cardioblasts.

Highlighted Article:Drosophila Arc1 exhibits microbiota-dependent, tissue-specific differential expression and functionally interacts with a key Acetobacter sp. isolate to regulate developmental growth and metabolic traits.

Highlighted Article: A zebrafish forward genetic screen identifies a switch-like regulator of growth and regeneration, which suggests that direct suppression of rRNA transcription may constitute an evolutionarily conserved ‘pause button’ for organismic growth.

Highlighted Article: The pioneer transcription factors Foxa1 and Foxa2 are required for positive selection during T-cell development in the thymus for regulation of RNA splicing.

Summary: Description of the construction of an anatomy ontology tool for planaria with examples of its potential use to curate and mine data across multiple experimental platforms.