Issues

Summary: Doug Melton discusses the influence of John Gurdon on his early career, his journey to applied developmental biology, and the current state of the field.

Summary: This Primer provides an overview of the Fox family of transcription factors, highlighting the key family members that are important for mammalian development and discussing how they function.

Summary: This Review takes a close look at hematopoietic stem cell heterogeneity during development and in the adult, and discusses several different ways in which this heterogeneity may arise.

Highlighted article: In the regenerative Xenopus tailbud, reactive oxygen species regulate local injury-induced electric currents that in turn modulate regeneration.

Highlighted article: Mouse Setd5 mutants are embryonic lethal with strong cardiovascular phenotypes. Setd5 interacts with PAF1C and NCoR complexes to regulate co-transcriptional chromatin modifications.

Summary: In the developing mouse limb bud, loss of the arginine methyltransferase PRMT5 leads to elevated BMP4 activity, precocious progenitor differentiation and widespread apoptosis.

Summary: The Nfix and Nfib transcription factors are required for the timely transition of radial glia into intermediate progenitor cells during mouse forebrain development.

Summary: In the Drosophila ovary, the Six4 and Groucho proteins link the activities of the Notch and EGFR pathways to regulate the earliest cell fate decision in the follicle stem cell lineage.

Summary: The C. elegans PUF protein FBF-2, but not its homolog FBF-1, directly binds dynein light chain DLC-1, regulating FBF-2 localization and activity in a dynein motor-independent manner.

Highlighted article: Foxj1 is considered a master regulator of ciliogenesis. In multiciliated cells of the Xenopus epidermis, Foxn4 promotes high-level expression of Foxj1 targets for efficient generation of multiple cilia.

Summary: Live imaging of neural tube morphogenesis in Ciona uncovers roles for FGF and Nodal signaling in controlling the intercalation and stacking behaviors of cells.

Summary: In the Drosophila embryo, control of myosin phosphorylation regulates actomyosin pulsatile activity, cell shape oscillations, adhesion dynamics and tissue morphogenesis.

Summary: The Arabidopsis kinase D6PK, which phosphorylates auxin efflux carriers, is targeted to the basal cell membrane by binding to polyacidic phospholipids.

Summary: The pigeon retina bears striking structural and functional similarities to the primate macula. Neurogenesis in this system shows a delayed onset, and is uncoupled from tissue growth.

Summary: A set of zebrafish titin deletion mutations in Z-disk and A-band domains provides a model to interrogate the mechanisms underlying heterogeneous functions of titin-truncating variants.

Summary: In the meibomian glands of the mouse eyelid, dynamic regulation of Dkk4 activity by proteolytic cleavage and interaction with Lrp6 modulates Wnt pathway activity and hence gland development.

Summary: Loss of Cfap157, a novel target of FOXJ1 in cells carrying motile cilia, causes the formation of supernumerary and abnormal axonemes in mouse sperm and leads to male infertility.

Highlighted article: 3D imaging of the mouse uterine lumen and glands reveals dynamic changes in their architecture in preparation for embryo implantation.