Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Drosophila third larval instar eye-antennal disc in which the dorsal portion of the eye field has undergone homeotic transformation into a wing disc with fully formed anterior and posterior compartments; note the activated Ci (green) within the anterior domain and ptc-lacZ (blue) along the anterior-posterior border. F-actin (red) marks the outlines of the discs. See Research article by Zhu et al. (dev160754). Image (oil brush filter applied) taken by Kasun Buddika.
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
SPOTLIGHT
In vivo imaging: shining a light on stem cells in the living animal
Summary: This Spotlight highlights how recent advances in imaging technologies have enabled stem cells to be visualised in real time within intact organ systems, revealing novel aspects of their behaviour, especially in response to injury.
REVIEW
The ontogeny, activation and function of the epicardium during heart development and regeneration
Summary: A historical and current account of comparative studies providing insight into the epicardium during heart development and regeneration: origins, formation, cell fate, signalling activity, interaction with the local environment and therapeutic potential.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
Origin and specification of type II neuroblasts in the Drosophila embryo
Summary: Drosophila type II NBs are generated in three clusters during stage 12 of embryogenesis, the specification of which requires the combined action of the EGFR pathway, buttonhead and Sp1.
Diet regulates membrane extension and survival of niche escort cells for germline homeostasis via insulin signaling
Summary: Insulin signaling mediates dietary effects to maintain escort cell cellular protrusion and survival for Drosophila ovarian germline stem cell maintenance and soma-germline interactions.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
PDGF-A signaling is required for secondary alveolar septation and controls epithelial proliferation in the developing lung
Summary: PDGF-A is needed during alveolar formation in the lung to promote migration and proliferation of myofibroblasts and to control the growth of alveolar epithelial type II cells.
Head formation requires Dishevelled degradation that is mediated by March2 in concert with Dapper1
Summary: The E3 ubiquitin ligase March2 and the Dsh-interacting protein Dapper1 cooperatively regulate turnover of Dsh via lysosomal degradation to antagonize Wnt signaling and contribute to Xenopus head formation.
Evolutionary divergence of the sex-determining gene MID uncoupled from the transition to anisogamy in volvocine algae
Highlighted Article: Mid from both anisogamous (Pleodorina) and isogamous (Gonium) volvocine genera can activate spermatogenesis when expressed in Volvox females, indicating that changes unrelated to Mid underlie the evolution of gamete dimorphism.
The mir-279/996 cluster represses receptor tyrosine kinase signaling to determine cell fates in the Drosophila eye
Summary: miR-279/996 are deployed in non-neuronal cells of the developing Drosophila eye to restrict RTK/Ras signaling and directly target the rho, ru and boss 3′ UTRs, with miR-279/996 loss yielding ectopic R7 photoreceptors and cone cell depletion.
Disrupting the three-dimensional regulatory topology of the Pitx1 locus results in overtly normal development
Summary: Long-range regulatory interactions may have limited predictive value for identifying enhancer mutations with strong loss-of-function phenotypes during development.
Regulation and function of H3K36 di-methylation by the trithorax-group protein complex AMC
Highlighted Article: The trithorax group protein Ash1 and its regulator MRG15 form a multiprotein complex that maintains expression of HOX and other target genes by methylating histone H3 in their chromatin.
Evolutionarily conserved anterior expansion of the central nervous system promoted by a common PcG-Hox program
Summary: In both Drosophila and mouse, anterior CNS expansion results from proliferation differences between brain and nerve cord, and is controlled by the PcG-Hox regulatory program.
Conserved functional control, but distinct regulation, of cell proliferation in rice and Arabidopsis leaves revealed by comparative analysis of GRF-INTERACTING FACTOR 1 orthologs
Summary: The orthologous rice and Arabidopsis genes MKB3 and AN3 have mostly conserved functions in leaf development but their expression pattern and the direction of movement of the proteins they encode differ.
L(3)mbt and the LINT complex safeguard cellular identity in the Drosophila ovary
Highlighted Article: Characterization of the developmental defects of l(3)mbt mutant ovaries shows that L(3)mbt regulates tissue-specific gene signatures to secure the identity of somatic ovarian and germline tissues.
Polycomb group (PcG) proteins and Pax6 cooperate to inhibit in vivo reprogramming of the developing Drosophila eye
Highlighted Article: The molecular events underlying the eye-to-wing transdetermination described by Hadorn in 1968 reveal the roles of Pax6 and PcG proteins.
Xenopus ADAM19 regulates Wnt signaling and neural crest specification by stabilizing ADAM13
Summary: The metalloproteinase ADAM19 non-proteolytically interacts with ADAM13 and inhibits ADAM13 turnover to regulate Wnt signaling snail2 expression and neural crest specification in Xenopus.
The heart tube forms and elongates through dynamic cell rearrangement coordinated with foregut extension
Summary: Cell cluster labeling and live imaging reveal that the flat heart primordia remodel into the rapidly elongating tube through dynamic tissue reshaping, driven by oriented-cell rearrangement, coordinately with foregut formation.
Imprinted gene dysregulation in a Tet1 null mouse model is stochastic and variable in the germline and offspring
Summary: Methylcytosine dioxygenase TET1 is a key regulator of imprinting in both the maternal and paternal lineages, with loss resulting in hypermethylation of KvDMR, Peg1 and Peg3 ICRs in sperm and of IG-DMR and H19/Igf2 ICRs in oocytes.
PUF-8 facilitates homologous chromosome pairing by promoting proteasome activity during meiotic entry in C. elegans
Summary: C. elegans mutants of the RNA-binding protein PUF-8 and the α1 proteasome subunit PAS-1 show meiotic defects and sterility that are due at least in part to increased activity of the axis component HTP-3 in premeiotic cells of the germline.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
Enhancer identification and activity evaluation in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum
Summary: Application of FAIRE-seq chromatin profiling to T. castaneum and the establishment of a cross-species-compatible universal reporter assay system facilitates investigation of cis-evolution and morphological diversity in Tribolium and other insects.
A quantitative method for staging mouse embryos based on limb morphometry
Summary: eMOSS, a new, freely available online tool (limbstaging.embl.es), enables fast and reliable determination of the developmental age of mouse embryos based on two-dimensional images of their limb buds.
Genome-wide strategies identify downstream target genes of chick connective tissue-associated transcription factors
Summary: Global profiling of five transcription factors associated with connective tissue subtypes reveals molecular signatures regulated during limb development and provides a data resource for future studies of connective tissue formation.
CORRECTION
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.
the Node: Have your say

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