Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: A Drosophila ovariole containing egg chambers of different stages stained for F-actin. See Research Report by Bhatt et al. (dev204201).
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
PERSPECTIVES
INTERVIEWS
REVIEW
Regulation of cell cycle in plant gametes: when is the right time to divide?
Summary: This Review summarizes the current understanding of plant gamete development, cell cycle regulation, quiescence, and fertilization-triggered reactivation.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Examining the NEUROG2 lineage and associated gene expression in human cortical organoids
Summary: Analysis of human cortical organoids reveals that NEUROG1 lineages prevail early and NEUROG2 lineages later, and that NEUROG2 targets include COL genes and PPP1R17, a human-accelerated region-associated gene.
RESEARCH REPORT
The WIRS motifs in Fat2 are required for Drosophila egg chamber rotation but not for elongation
Highlighted Article: A sequence motif in the intracellular region of the atypical cadherin Fat2 is required for the rotation of Drosophila egg chambers, but is dispensable for egg chamber elongation.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Nup107 contributes to the maternal-to-zygotic transition by preventing the premature nuclear export of pri-miR427
Highlighted Article: This study explains the role of Nup107 in maternal-to-zygotic transition through primary miR427 nuclear export.
Canonical Wnt signalling from the area opaca induces and maintains the marginal zone in pre-primitive-streak stage chick embryos
Summary: Canonical Wnt is the signal from the extra-embryonic area opaca that induces and maintains the neighbouring marginal zone of the chick embryo, crucial for positioning the primitive streak.
Sox10 is required for systemic initiation of bone mineralization
Summary: sox10-dependent neural crest cells restrain production of anti-hypercalcemic hormones to enable the massive influx of calcium needed to initiate bone mineralization in developing fish.
FGFR2 directs inhibition of WNT signaling to regulate anterior fontanelle closure during skull development
Summary: Mouse genetics and single-cell transcriptomics reveal a FGF-WNT signaling circuit that regulates closure of the anterior fontanelle, a soft spot in the infant skull.
A master regulatory loop that activates genes in a temporally coordinated manner in muscle cells of ascidian embryos
Highlighted Article: A muscle cell specification program that controls all specifically expressed genes has been documented from eggs to larvae of an ascidian.
Positive autoregulation of Sox17 is necessary for gallbladder and extrahepatic bile duct formation
Summary: A SOX17-binding cis-regulatory element in transcription start site 2 of Sox17 forms a positive autoregulatory feedback loop necessary for gallbladder and extra-hepatic bile duct formation.
Abnormal H3K27me3 underlies degenerative spermatogonial stem cells in cryptorchid testis
Summary: Partial loss of H3K27me3 correlated with developmental and proapoptotic gene upregulation underlies abnormal spermatogonial stem cell maintenance and differentiation in cryptorchid testis in mice.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
Optimized husbandry and targeted gene-editing for the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis
Summary: Optimized life cycle, in combination with efficient gene-editing approaches, facilitates the establishment of genetic tools in N. vectensis, an emerging model for environmental stress response, regeneration and longevity.
Transcriptional dynamics during karyogamy in rice zygotes
Summary: Male and female nuclei fuse to form the zygotic nucleus in angiosperms. A time-course single-cell transcriptome analysis reveals gene expression profiles during nuclear fusion in rice zygotes.
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.