Gonadal sexual identity is determined during development, but must also be maintained in adulthood. In Drosophila, the transcription factor Chinmo has been identified as a key regulator of male identity in the adult testis: it promotes expression of the male sex determinant DsxM (the homologue of which, DMRT1, is a key regulator of male identity in mouse testes). In chinmo mutants, somatic stem cells of the adult testis adopt female fate. Now (754), Erika Matunis and co-workers show that Chinmo is not only necessary but also sufficient to promote male fate. Overexpression of chinmo in adult ovarian somatic cells leads to severe oogenesis phenotypes. Marker expression analysis suggests that chinmo-overexpressing somatic cells lose female identity and gain male fate. Strikingly, this also appears to affect the sexual fate of the germ cells: a proportion of ovary germ cells start to express male markers upon somatic...
The Company of Biologists Workshops
For the last 15 years, our publisher, The Company of Biologists, has provided an apt environment to inspire biology and support biologists through our Workshops series. Read about the evolution of the Workshop series and revisit JEB's experience with hosting the first Global South Workshop.
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 30 May 2025.
Meet our 2025 Pathway to Independence (PI) fellows
We are delighted to announce our third cohort of PI fellows - researchers whom we will be supporting as they transition from postdoc to Principal Investigator. Read about the eight talented fellows chosen, whom we're excited to be working with as they navigate the job market.
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.
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