During every cell cycle, the entire genome must be duplicated just once to preserve genome integrity. Over-replication is prevented by multiple mechanisms that block the premature reformation of the pre-replicative complex(pre-RC) at replication origins. Regulation of Cdt1 activity, a pre-RC component, is especially important in inhibiting re-replication. Calvi and colleagues now report that overexpression of Double-parked (Dup), the Drosophila orthologue of Cdt1, is sufficient to induce re-replication during development, resulting in polyploidy and cell death in the ovary and imaginal discs (see p. 4807). The researchers show that the phosphorylation and degradation of Dup at G1/S,which prevents re-replication, is dependent on cyclin E/CDK2 activity. Finally, by showing that Dup activity is regulated differently during genomic replication than during the developmental amplification of genes in follicle cells late in oogenesis, the researchers provide important insights into the mechanism of gene amplification, a developmentally specific replication programme.
Interviews with Biologists @ 100 conference speakers
Explore our interviews with keynote speakers from the Biologists @ 100 conference, hosted to celebrate our publisher’s 100th anniversary, where we discuss climate change and biodiversity with Hans-Otto Pörtner and Jane Francis, health and disease with Charles Swanton and emerging technologies with Manu Prakash and Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
How to build a community site for developmental biologists
Our community site, the Node, has been serving the developmental and stem cell biology community for 15 years. In this post, our Community Manager, Joyce Yu, shares how the Node was born and describes how to build a community site from scratch.
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