Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Confocal image of the Drosophila white prepupal fat body showing enlarged lysosomes (magenta) and lipid droplets (green). Acidic compartments and lipid droplets are stained with LysoTracker Red (pseudocoloured magenta) and Lipi-Blue (pseudocoloured green), respectively. See Research article by Murakawa et al. (dev200243).
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
PERSPECTIVE
INTERVIEWS
SPOTLIGHT
Single-cell genomics revolutionizes plant development studies across scales
Summary: This Spotlight surveys the recent surge in single-cell analyses of plant development, highlighting approaches to obtain and analyze single-cell data, as well as to provide new insights into plant development.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals PDFGRα+ stromal cell subpopulations that promote proacinar cell differentiation in embryonic salivary gland organoids
Summary: Embryonic salivary glands contain multiple stromal cell subpopulations. FGF2 maintains the Pdgfra+ population of the stromal cells in organoids, which drives early epithelial secretory cell differentiation, in part, using BMP ligands.
A constitutively expressed fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell-cycle indicator (FUCCI) in axolotls for studying tissue regeneration
Summary: A ubiquitous transgenic fluorescent, ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator (FUCCI) axolotl line is used to study cell cycle dynamics during development, limb regeneration and tail regeneration.
RESEARCH REPORTS
A low-sugar diet enhances Drosophila body size in males and females via sex-specific mechanisms
Highlighted Article: A low-sugar diet in Drosophila promotes growth in both males and females, but the underlying genetic, transcriptional and metabolic mechanisms are not fully shared between the sexes.
Pax6 loss alters the morphological and electrophysiological development of mouse prethalamic neurons
Summary: Pax6 impacts neurite extension, axon initial segment properties and the ability to fire normal action potentials in maturing neurons, revealing actions extending beyond those previously characterised in progenitors.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Live imaging of avian epiblast and anterior mesendoderm grafting reveals the complexity of cell dynamics during early brain development
Summary: The first high-resolution live imaging of anterior epiblast cells at the brain-forming stages in avian embryos is reported, revealing their long-distance migration and interaction with the anterior mesendoderm to form brain tissues.
Rectified random cell motility as a mechanism for embryo elongation
Summary: A theoretical framework for the dynamics of body elongation in vertebrate embryos is provided, along with experimental observations that are consistent with it.
Wt1 transcription factor impairs cardiomyocyte specification and drives a phenotypic switch from myocardium to epicardium
Highlighted Article: Wt1 is a well-studied epicardial marker that is also transiently expressed in a cardiomyocyte precursor pool. Sustained Wt1 expression in cardiomyocytes can change their cell fate into epicardial-like cells.
Svep1 stabilises developmental vascular anastomosis in reduced flow conditions
Highlighted Article: Blood flow and the large extracellular matrix protein Svep1 jointly regulate vessel anastomosis during developmental angiogenesis in zebrafish embryos partly by modulating the Vegfa/Vegfr signalling pathway.
A Drosophila toolkit for HA-tagged proteins unveils a block in autophagy flux in the last instar larval fat body
Summary: A versatile Drosophila toolkit with a genetically encoded single-chain variable fragment for the HA epitope tag that allows various analyses of HA-tagged proteins of interest in live tissues by simple crossing.
The β8 integrin cytoplasmic domain activates extracellular matrix adhesion to promote brain neurovascular development
Summary: A new genetically engineered mouse model reveals that the β8 integrin cytoplasmic tail is essential for activation of extracellular matrix adhesion during development of the neurovasculature.
The cell polarity determinant Dlg1 facilitates epithelial invagination by promoting tissue-scale mechanical coordination
Summary: Detailed examination of Drosophila mesoderm invagination reveals the importance of mechanical coupling between tissue domains during epithelial folding and a role for Dlg1 in coordination of this process.
LONP1-mediated mitochondrial quality control safeguards metabolic shifts in heart development
Summary: Mitochondrial quality control protein LONP1 plays a pivotal role in maintaining the shift from anaerobic glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation during heart development, giving us a new perspective on the relationship between mitochondria and heart development.
Three-axis classification of mouse lung mesenchymal cells reveals two populations of myofibroblasts
Summary: Molecular, anatomical and cellular features allow mouse lung mesenchyme to be classified into three axes (vascular, epithelial and interstitial) and show two populations of myofibroblasts.
Coordinated activities of Myosin Vb isoforms and mTOR signaling regulate epithelial cell morphology during development
Highlighted Article: Myosin Vb isoforms are important in regulating epithelial cell morphology during development, and the Myosin Vb-Rab10 interaction is essential for directional cell growth downstream of mTOR signaling.
Epha1 is a cell-surface marker for the neuromesodermal competent population
Summary: Epha1 is associated with an embryonic cell population with the characteristics of the neuromesodermal-competent cell population
Engrailed, Suppressor of fused and Roadkill modulate the Drosophila GLI transcription factor Cubitus interruptus at multiple levels
Highlighted Article: Three regulators of the Hedgehog pathway, Engrailed, Suppressor of Fused and Roadkill modulate Cubitus interruptus expression and the competition between its activator and repressor forms.
UHRF2 regulates cell cycle, epigenetics and gene expression to control the timing of retinal progenitor and ganglion cell differentiation
Highlighted Article: UHRF2 promotes retinal progenitor cell G1 cell cycle arrest, increases 5hmC and regulates gene expression, favoring progenitor retention over ganglion cell production during retinal development.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
In vitro culture of ovine embryos up to early gastrulating stages
Highlighted Article: The development of an in vitro post-hatching culture system that sustains most developmental landmarks of sheep embryos up to gastrulating stages is presented, representing an unprecedented advance in ungulate species.
Pathway to Independence programme

We’re excited to announce our new Pathway to Independence programme, aimed at supporting postdocs as they go on the job market. Find out more about the scheme in our Editorial.
Call for papers: Metabolic and Nutritional Control of Development and Regeneration

We are welcoming submissions for our next special issue, which will focus on metabolic and nutritional control of development and regeneration. Submission deadline: 15 May 2023.
Webinar: Increasing the visibility and impact of your research
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Would you like to increase the visibility and impact of your research and raise your profile internationally? If so, register for the very practical webinar we are running in association with HUBS on 23 February 2023.
Transitions in development: Daniel Grimes

Daniel Grimes’s lab studies the consequences of ciliary mutations, including left-right patterning defects and scoliosis. We interviewed Daniel to find out more about his career path, his experience of becoming a group leader and the influence of Jurassic Park.
Preprints in Development
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As part of our efforts to support the use of preprints and help curate the preprint literature, we are delighted to launch a new article type: ‘In preprints’. These pieces will discuss one or more recent preprints and place them in a broader context.