Almost every living cell contains a nucleus and, within that, a nucleolus. It is commonly accepted that the nucleolus of somatic cells arises from the nucleolar precursor body (NPB), a large, compact nucleolus present in the oocyte, but whether this is true remains to be definitively shown. Now, on p. 2255, Hirohisa Kyogoku and colleagues reveal that the NPB in the zygote, which is inherited from the oocyte, is not required for embryonic and full-term development in the mouse. Instead, the nucleolus in the developing embryo is formed de novo. Using micromanipulation techniques, the authors show that removal of the NPB from the late-stage zygote did not cause any disruption to normal development: the resulting zygote was able to develop to the blastocyst stage and upon implantation gave rise to phenotypically normal pups. Several cell divisions after NPB removal, the authors observed de novo formation of nucleoli from newly synthesized materials. Taken together, these results indicate that the NPB of late-stage zygotes is dispensable for subsequent embryonic development, and that the nucleoli of developing and somatic cells form from de novo synthesized material.
New start for embryonic nucleoli
New start for embryonic nucleoli. Development 1 June 2014; 141 (11): e1104. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
About us

Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025

We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
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
Did you know that Development publishes perspectives on recent preprints? These articles help our readers navigate the ever-growing preprint literature. We welcome proposals for ‘In preprints’ articles, so please do get in touch if you’d like to contribute.