Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: CaspaseTracker/CasExpress (a caspase 3-activatable Gal4/UAS system) combined with G-TRACE (Gal4 technique for real-time and clonal expression) labels cells activated by caspase 3 prior to (nuclear GFP; green) or at the time of (nuclear RFP; magenta) imaging in Drosophila pupal notum. Tiled confocal stack image. Anterior: top. See Research article by Fujisawa et al. (dev169037).
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
EDITORIAL
Let there be preLights: one year on
Summary: In this Editorial, we reflect on a successful first year for The Company of Biologists’ preprint highlighting service, preLights, and consider its role in the future of online scientific discussion and collaboration.
OBITUARY
Obituary: Jarema Malicki (1965-2019)
Summary: Colin A. Johnson reflects on the life and work of Jarema Malicki, in particular his contribution towards establishing the zebrafish as a model for medical genetics.
INTERVIEW
An interview with Cassandra Extavour
Summary: Cassandra Extavour, recently appointed an editor at Development, discusses her research career, her thoughts on the future of evo-devo research and her advice for young scientists.
REVIEW
Neural stem cells: origin, heterogeneity and regulation in the adult mammalian brain
Summary: This Review discusses the identification, regulation and heterogeneity of neural stem cells and examines recent insights into their transcriptomic properties and mechanism of persistence into adulthood.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
Cell-autonomous and redundant roles of Hey1 and HeyL in muscle stem cells: HeyL requires Hes1 to bind diverse DNA sites
Summary: Analyses of conditional and genetic null mice reveal that HeyL and Hey1 function redundantly in MuSCs, and that HeyL requires Hes1 for effective DNA binding and biological activity.
Ecrg4 deficiency extends the replicative capacity of neural stem cells in a Foxg1-dependent manner
Summary: Ecrg4-deficient mice reveal that loss of Ecrg4 not only maintains proliferation of neural stem cells in vitro and in vivo, but also enhances spatial recognition and memory.
Multiple supporting cell subtypes are capable of spontaneous hair cell regeneration in the neonatal mouse cochlea
Summary: Several supporting cell subtypes, in particular pillar cells and Deiters’ cells, act as the source of spontaneously regenerated hair cells in the neonatal mouse cochlea.
Non-apoptotic function of Drosophila caspase activation in epithelial thorax closure and wound healing
Summary: Drosophila caspase 9 (Dronc), which is spatio-temporally activated in a non-apoptotic context, delays epithelial closure and may be involved in ROS generation.
BMP signaling is required for amphioxus tail regeneration
Summary: Cellular, transcriptome and gene functional analyses revealed that tail regeneration of amphioxus is a vertebrate-like epimorphic process, in which the BMP signaling pathway plays key roles.
RESEARCH REPORTS
The OsJAZ1 degron modulates jasmonate signaling sensitivity during rice development
Summary: Sequence variation in the JAZ degron may influence conformational changes of the OsJAZ1 protein that are needed for efficient signaling, and so confer specificity and sensitivity in JA signaling during rice development.
TOP1α regulates FLOWERING LOCUS C expression by coupling histone modification and transcription machinery
Summary: TOP1α interacts with SDG8 and recruits RNA polymerase II to promote early transcriptional elongation by maintaining the open chromatin state and adding histone markers associated with active transcription.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Common cellular origin and diverging developmental programs for different sesamoid bones
Highlighted Article: Sesamoid bones originate from pools of Sox9+/Scx+ chondroprogenitors, and a combination of genetic and mechanical regulatory programs is applied to achieve anatomical and ultimately functional variation during sesamoid bone development.
ATML1 activity is restricted to the outermost cells of the embryo through post-transcriptional repressions
Summary: The activity of ATML1, which promotes shoot epidermal cell fate in Arabidopsis thaliana, is post-transcriptionally repressed in the inner cells of the embryos.
USP22 controls multiple signaling pathways that are essential for vasculature formation in the mouse placenta
Highlighted Article: Global loss of the USP22 deubiquitinase, an integral subunit of the SAGA chromatin remodeler, reveals an unexpected role in the regulation of signaling cascades in endothelial and perivascular cells of the developing mouse placenta.
Gene-environment interaction impacts on heart development and embryo survival
Highlighted Article: Studies using Nkx2-5, Tbx1 and Fgfr1/Fgfr2 mutant mice reveal how a genetic predisposition to developing a heart defect can combine with short-term gestational hypoxia to cause defects and foetal death.
Morphogenesis of neurons and glia within an epithelium
Summary: Sensory neurons and glia, which breach the epithelial barrier between an organism and its environment, exhibit epithelial properties themselves and develop through mechanisms shared with other epithelia.
The HMG box transcription factors Sox1a and Sox1b specify a new class of glycinergic interneuron in the spinal cord of zebrafish embryos
Summary: A novel spinal neuronal V2 subtype, V2s, is described in zebrafish embryos and proposed to be required for fast escape responses.
Nell2 regulates the contralateral-versus-ipsilateral visual projection as a domain-specific positional cue
Summary: Nell2 is expressed in the domain of the visual thalamus, where ipsilateral retinal axons terminate, and contributes to establishment of the eye-specific visual projection by specifically inhibiting contralateral retinal axons.
Postnatal liver functional maturation requires Cnot complex-mediated decay of mRNAs encoding cell cycle and immature liver genes
Summary: Regulation of both mRNA transcription and stability plays a crucial role in postnatal liver development; in particular, Cnot complex-mediated mRNA decay is essential for postnatal liver functional maturation.
Genetic interactions support an inhibitory relationship between bone morphogenetic protein 2 and netrin 1 during semicircular canal formation
Summary: Bmp2-conditional mutant analyses support the hypothesis that presumptive crista induces canal genesis zone in the canal pouch to express Bmp2, which promotes canal formation by restricting Ntn1 expression to the resorption domain.
CORRECTION
Development presents... live stream of our Journal Meeting

Watch a session from Development’s Journal Meeting, Unconventional and Emerging Experimental Organisms in Cell and Developmental Biology which was live on the Node Monday 18 September.
Navigating a research career with a disability

Our two recent Perspectives articles explore the lived experiences of disabled scientists in our community. Kelsey L. Anbuhl and colleagues describe the lived experiences of five biologists who share the challenges and successes of undertaking a scientific career with a disability. Whereas Jack Darius Morgan reviews the literature exploring disabled scientists’ experiences in academia.
Focus on regeneration

Tissue regeneration is a fascinating phenomenon, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying regeneration remain incompletely understood. Here, Development has collated a series of articles showcasing some of the most recent advances in regenerative biology.
Keeping up with the Node: Lab meetings

Keep up with the Node 'Lab meeting' posts as the platform regularly highlights development and stem cell biology labs from across the globe and showcases research and researchers from the community. August featured the Nichols lab at the University of Edinburgh, read their 'Lab meeting' article here.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say

We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.