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Enter the Node-FocalPlane image competition, presented at Biologists @ 100!

Posted by , on 5 February 2025

To accompany the Biologists @ 100 conference, we are launching the Node–FocalPlane image competition.

Enter your best biological research images for your chance to win £250. All the shortlisted images will be presented in our gallery at Biologists @ 100 at ACC Liverpool, 24-27 March 2025 and on the Node and FocalPlane.

Voting will begin the week before the conference and will continue until Thursday 27 March, when the winner will be announced at the conference and online.

Entries are open to all researchers whether you are attending Biologists @ 100 or not.

Deadline for submissions: 24 February 2025

Registration for Biologists @ 100 is open until 28 February. Join us in Liverpool for the chance to see your image displayed in our gallery! The programme overview is available here and the details of the cell and developmental biology track can be found here.

Competition details:

  • Email your image to thenode@biologists.com with ‘Biologists @ 100 image competition’ in the subject line.
  • You can submit up to three biological scientific research images that fall within the scope of The Company of Biologists‘ journals.
  • In the email, include a description of the image and imaging modality used to acquire the image or software used to reconstruct or analyse it.
  • We’ll require a high-resolution version if you image is shortlisted. You can submit downsampled images for the initial selection.
  • There is no theme and no restriction content-wise; it can be a raw, reconstructed, filtered or analysed image of any type of biological sample.
  • Deadline for image submission is 24 February 2025.
  • Submitted images should not have already been published elsewhere unless under a CC-BY license and should not have been submitted in another image competition.
  • One first place prize – £250 and two runners up prizes – £125
Image credit: Antara Chakraborty
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January in preprints

Posted by , on 5 February 2025

Welcome to our monthly trawl for developmental and stem cell biology (and related) preprints.

The preprints this month are hosted on bioRxiv – use these links below to get to the section you want:

Developmental biology

Cell Biology

Modelling

Tools & Resources

Congratulations to everyone involved in the preprints! As usual, let us know if we’ve missed anything in this list.

Developmental biology

| Patterning & signalling

Epigenetic priming of neural progenitors by Notch enhances Sonic hedgehog signaling and establishes gliogenic competence

Luuli N. Tran, Ashwini Shinde, Kristen H. Schuster, Aiman Sabaawy, Emily Dale, Madalynn J. Welch, Trevor J. Isner, Sylvia A. Nunez, Fernando García-Moreno, Charles G. Sagerström, Bruce H. Appel, Santos J. Franco

The ratio of Wnt signaling activity to Sox2 transcription factor levels predicts neuromesodermal fate potential

Robert D Morabito, David Tatarakis, Ryan Swick, Samantha Stettnisch, Thomas F Schilling, Julia A Horsfield, Benjamin L Martin

Specific and redundant roles for Gli2 and Gli3 in establishing cell fate during hair follicle development

Gokcen Gozum, Lisa Wirtz, Mareike Damen, Viktoria Reckert, Peter Schettina, Melanie Nelles, Hisham Bazzi, Catherin Niemann

Cell heterogeneity and fate bistability drive tissue patterning during intestinal regeneration

C. Schwayer, S. Barbiero, D. B. Brückner, C. Baader, N. A. Repina, O. E. Diaz, L. Challet Meylan, V. Kalck, S. Suppinger, Q. Yang, J. Schnabl, U. Kilik, J. G. Camp, B. Stockinger, M. Bühler, M. B. Stadler, E. Hannezo, P. Liberali

Conservation of symmetry breaking at the level of chromatin accessibility between fly species with unrelated anterior determinants

Ezra E. Amiri, Ayse Tenger-Trolander, Muzi Li, Alexander Thomas Julian, Koray Kasan, Sheri A. Sanders, Shelby Blythe, Urs Schmidt-Ott

Cytoneme-mediated signalling coordinates the development of glial cells and neurons in the Drosophila eye

Juan Manuel García-Arias, Gonzalo G. Girón, David Foronda, Isabel Guerrero, Antonio Baonza

Endothelial Slit2 guides the Robo1-positive sympathetic innervation during heart development

Juanjuan Zhao, Susann Bruche, Konstantinos Lekkos, Carolyn Carr, Joaquim Miguel Vieira, John Parnavelas, William D Andrews, Mathilda Mommersteeg

From Zhao et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.

A temporal coordination between Nodal and Wnt signalling governs the emergence of the mammalian body plan

André Dias, Pau Pascual-Mas, Gabriel Torregrosa-Cortés, Harold M. McNamara, Alexandra E. Wehmeyer, Sebastian J. Arnold, Alfonso Martinez Arias

Scaling of mouse somitogenesis by coupling of cell cycle to segmentation clock oscillations

Marek J. van Oostrom, Yuting I. Li, Wilke H. M. Meijer, Tomas E. J. C. Noordzij, Charis Fountas, Erika Timmers, Jeroen Korving, Wouter M. Thomas, Benjamin D. Simons, Katharina F. Sonnen

Neural plate pre-patterning enables specification of intermediate neural progenitors in the spinal cord

Sandy Nandagopal, Anna Cha, Bill Z. Jia, Hongyu Liao, Caroline Comenho, Galit Lahav, Daniel E. Wagner, Tony Y-C Tsai, Sean G. Megason

Knockdown of PR-DUB subunit calypso in the developing Drosophila eye and wing results in mis-patterned tissues with altered size and shape

Max Luf, Priya Begani, Anne M. Bowcock, Cathie M. Pfleger

Mutations that prevent phosphorylation of the BMP4 prodomain impair proteolytic maturation of homodimers leading to lethality in mice

Hyung-seok Kim, Mary L. Sanchez, Joshua Silva, Heidi L. Schubert, Rebecca Dennis, Christopher P. Hill, Jan L. Christian

Receptor Allostery Promotes Context-Dependent Sonic Hedgehog Signaling During Embryonic Development

Shariq S. Ansari, Miriam E. Dillard, Mohamed Ghonim, Yan Zhang, Daniel P. Stewart, Robin Canac, Ivan P. Moskowitz, William C. Wright, Christina A. Daly, Shondra M. Pruett-Miller, Jeffrey Steinberg, Yong-Dong Wang, Taosheng Chen, Paul G. Thomas, James P. Bridges, Stacey K. Ogden

Progenitor Heterogeneity in the Developing Cortex: Divergent and Complementary Roles of NG2-Progenitors and RGCs

Ana Cristina Ojalvo-Sanz, María Figueres-Oñate, Sonsoles Barriola, Carolina Pernia-Solanilla, Rebeca Sanchez-Gonzalez, Lina Delgado García, Laura López-Mascaraque

Rdh10-mediated Retinoic Acid Signaling Regulates the Neural Crest Cell Microenvironment During ENS Formation

Naomi E. Butler Tjaden, Stephen R. Shannon, Christopher W. Seidel, Melissa Childers, Kazushi Aoto, Lisa L. Sandell, Paul A. Trainor

Gastrula-premarked posterior enhancer primes posterior tissue development through cross-talk with TGF-β signaling pathway

Yingying Chen, Fengxiang Tan, Qing Fang, Lin Zhang, Jiaoyang Liao, Penglei Shen, Yun Qian, Mingzhu Wen, Rui Song, Yonggao Fu, He Jax Xu, Ran Wang, Cheng Li, Zhen Shao, Jinsong Li, Naihe Jing, Xianfa Yang

| Morphogenesis & mechanics

Mechanical signalling through collagen I regulates cholangiocyte specification and tubulogenesis during liver development

Iona G. Thelwall, Carola M. Morell, Dominika Dziedzicka, Lucia Cabriales, Andrew Hodgson, Floris J.M. Roos, Louis Elfari, Ludovic Vallier, Kevin J. Chalut

The thin descending limb of the loop of Henle originates from proximal tubule cells during mouse kidney development

Eunah Chung, Fariba Nosrati, Mike Adam, Andrew Potter, Mohammed Sayed, Benjamin D. Humphreys, Hee-Woong Lim, Yueh-Chiang Hu, S. Steve Potter, Joo-Seop Park

From Chung et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Extracellular stiffness regulates site-specific lung development

Zhiying Liao, Junjie Lv, Dong Wang, Xuepeng Chen, Jincun Zhao, Tao Xu, Hao Meng, Huisheng Liu

Resolving forebrain developmental organisation by analysis of differential growth patterns

Elizabeth Manning, Kavitha Chinnaiya, Caitlyn Furley, Dong Won Kim, Seth Blackshaw, Marysia Placzek, Elsie Place

Genes responsible for the formation of asymmetrical mandibular teeth in the giant mealworm beetle, Zophobas atratus

Kouhei Toga, Kakeru Yokoi, Toru Togawa

A switch in the mode of tissue growth extends the growth phase of Drosophila wing primordia during early pupal development

Khaoula El Marzkioui, Isabelle Gaugué, Ettore De Giorgio, Pierre Léopold, Laura Boulan

Regionalized regulation of actomyosin organization influences cardiomyocyte cell shape changes during chamber curvature formation

Dena M. Leerberg, Gabriel B. Avillion, Rashmi Priya, Didier Y.R. Stainier, Deborah Yelon

Drosophila Toll-2 controls homeotic domain formation and timing of folding

Lale Alpar, Rémi Pigache, Adrien Leroy, Mehdi Ech-Chouini, Stéphane Pelletier, Yohanns Bellaïche

Non-invasive characterization of oocyte deformability in micro-constrictions

Lucie Barbier, Rose Bulteau, Behnam Rezaei, Thomas panier, Elsa Labrune, Marie-Hélène Verlhac, Franck Vernerey, Clement Campillo, Marie-Emilie Terret

Fine-tuning mechanical constraints uncouple patterning and gene expression in murine pseudo-embryos

Judith Pineau, Jerome Wong-Ng, Alexandre Mayran, Lucille Lopez-Delisle, Pierre Osteil, Armin Shoushtarizadeh, Denis Duboule, Samy Gobaa, Thomas Gregor

The emergence of E-Cadherin spot junctions between germline and somatic cells facilitates late stage oogenesis in Drosophila

Vanessa Weichselberger, Ramya Balaji, Marta Rodriguez-Franco, Anne-Kathrin Classen

Convergent flow-mediated mesenchymal force drives embryonic foregut constriction and splitting

Rui Yan, Ludwig A. Hoffmann, Panagiotis Oikonomou, Deng Li, ChangHee Lee, Hasreet Gill, Alessandro Mongera, Nandan L. Nerurkar, L. Mahadevan, Clifford J. Tabin

From Yan et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.

| Genes & genomes

LIN28-mediated gene regulatory loops synchronize developmental transitions throughout organogenesis

Indhujah Thevarajan, Maria F. Osuna, Sonia Fuentes Lewey, Eustolia Sauceda, Sayra Briseno, Caylah Griffin, Bareun Kim, R. Grant Rowe, Edroaldo Lummertz da Rocha, Jihan K Osborne

Identification of Specialized tRNA Expression in Early Human Brain Development

Alex L Bagi, Todd M Lowe, Sofie R Salama

H3K4 methylation-promoted transcriptional memory ensures faithful zygotic genome activation and embryonic development

Meghana S. Oak, Marco Stock, Matthias Mezes, Tobias Straub, Antony M. Hynes-Allen, Jelle van den Ameele, Ignasi Forne, Andreas Ettinger, Axel Imhof, Antonio Scialdone, Eva Hörmanseder

p16.1 and p16.2, new HSPC markers, play redundant roles in zebrafish T-cell lymphopoiesisv

Etienne Gomez, Roman A. Li, Julien Y. Bertrand

A systems genetics approach identifies roles for proteasome factors in heart development and congenital heart defects

Gist H. Farr III, Whitaker Reid, Isabelle Young, Mona L. Li, David R. Beier, Lisa Maves

Zebrafish adamtsl4 knockout recapitulates key features of human ADAMTSL4-related diseases: a gene involved in extracellular matrix organization, cell junctions and development

Angel Tevar, Jose-Daniel Aroca-Aguilar, Raquel Atiénzar-Aroca, Ana I. Ramírez, José A. Fernández-Albarral, Julio Escribano

Linking Expression and Function of Drosophila Type-I TGF-β Receptor Baboon Isoforms: Multiple Roles of BaboA Isoform in Shaping of the Adult Central Nervous System

Gyunghee G. Lee, Aidan J. Peterson, Myung-Jun Kim, MaryJane Shimell, Michael B. O’Connor, Jae H. Park

Reactivation of an Embryonic Cardiac Neural Crest Transcriptional Subcircuit During Zebrafish Heart Regeneration

Rekha M. Dhillon-Richardson, Alexandra K. Haugan, Luke W. Lyons, Joseph K. McKenna, Marianne E. Bronner, Megan L. Martik

LINE-1 retrotransposons regulate the exit of human pluripotency and early brain development

Anita Adami, Raquel Garza, Patricia Gerdes, Pia A. Johansson, Fereshteh Dorazehi, Symela Koutounidou, Laura Castilla-Vallmanya, Diahann A.M. Atacho, Yogita Sharma, Jenny G. Johansson, Oliver Tam, Agnete Kirkeby, Roger A. Barker, Molly Gale-Hammell, Christopher H. Douse, Johan Jakobsson

Chd4 remodels chromatin to control retinal cell type specification and lineage termination

Sujay Shah, José Alex Lourenço Fernandes, Suma Medisetti, Pierre Mattar

From Shah et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license.

Site-specific DNA demethylation during spermatogenesis presets the sites of nucleosome retention in mouse sperm

So Maezawa, Masashi Yukawa, Akihiko Sakashita, Artem Barski, Satoshi H. Namekawa

Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in the Endometrium Mediated by HOXA10 drives Embryo Implantation

Nancy Ashary, Sanjana Suresh, Anshul Bhide, Sharmishtha Shyamal, N Pranya, Anuradha Mishra, A Anuradha, Shruti Hansda, B V Harshavardhan, Mohit Kumar Jolly, Deepak Modi

Foxi2 and Sox3 are master regulators controlling ectoderm germ layer specification

Clark L. Hendrickson, Ira L. Blitz, Amina Hussein, Kitt D. Paraiso, Jin Cho, Michael W. Klymkowsky, Matthew J. Kofron, Ken W.Y. Cho

Functional Equivalence of the Proneural Genes Neurog1 and Neurog2 in the Developing Dorsal Root Ganglia Highlights the Importance of Timing of Neurogenesis in Biasing Somatosensory Precursor Fates

Simon Desiderio, Pauline Cabochette, Stephanie Venteo, Gautier Tejedor, Farida Djouad, Patrick Carroll, Fabrice Ango, Alexandre Pattyn

Dmrt2 Orchestrates Neuronal Development in the Embryonic Cingulate Cortex: Unveiling Sex-Biased Vulnerabilities

Ana Bermejo-Santos, Rodrigo Torrillas-de la Cal, Miguel Rubio-García, Esther Serrano-Saiz

Transcriptional Integration of Meiotic Prophase I Progression and Early Oocyte Differentiation

Kimberly M. Abt, Myles A. Bartholomew, Anna Nixon, Hanna E. Richman, Megan A. Gura, Kimberly A. Seymour, Richard N. Freiman

Novel Single-Cell Multiomics Approach to Analyze Replication Timing and Gene Expression in Mouse Preimplantation Embryos

Anala V. Shetty, Clifford J. Steer, Walter C. Low

Trans-generational maintenance of mitochondrial DNA integrity in oocytes during early folliculogenesis

Qin Xie, Haibo Wu, Jiaxin Qiu, Junbo Liu, Qifeng Lyu, Hui Long, Wenzhi Li, Shuo Zhang, Xueyi Jiang, Yuxiao Zhou, Yining Gao, Aaron J. W. Hsueh, Yanping Kuang, Lun Suo

LIN-67 functionally interacts with heterochronic miRNAs and regulates developmental timing in Caenorhabditis elegans

Jeffrey C. Medley, Roberto Perales, Belén Gaete Humada, Katja Doerfel, Ariana Levine, Ganesh Panzade, Christopher M. Hammell, Anna Zinovyeva

A parent-of-origin effect on embryonic telomere elongation determines telomere length inheritance

Hyuk-Joon Jeon, Mia T. Levine, Michael A. Lampson

Chromosome X Dosage Modulates Development of Aneuploidy in Genetically Diverse Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Alexander Stanton, Selcan Aydin, Daniel A. Skelly, Dylan Stavish, Kim Leonhard, Seth Taapken, Erik McIntire, Matthew Pankratz, Anne Czechanski, Tenneille Ludwig, Ted Choi, Steven P. Gygi, Ivana Barbaric, Steven C. Munger, Laura G. Reinholdt, Martin F. Pera

Xist RNA Dependent and Independent Mechanisms Regulate Dynamic X Chromosome Inactivation in B Lymphocytes

Natalie E. Toothacre, Kiara L. Rodríguez-Acevedo, Keenan J. Wiggins, Christopher D. Scharer, Montserrat C. Anguera

Single-molecule mitochondrial DNA imaging reveals heteroplasmy dynamics shaped by developmental bottlenecks and selection in different organs in vivo

Rajini Chandrasegaram, Antony M. Hynes-Allen, Beitong Gao, Abhilesh Dhawanjewar, Michele Frison, Stavroula Petridi, Patrick F. Chinnery, Hansong Ma, Jelle van den Ameele

Cross cell-type systems genetics reveals the influence of eQTL at multiple points in the developmental trajectory of mouse neural progenitor cells

Selcan Aydin, Daniel A. Skelly, Hannah Dewey, J. Matthew Mahoney, Ted Choi, Laura G. Reinholdt, Christopher L. Baker, Steven C. Munger

Endogenous retrovirus-driven Pcgf5 plays critical roles in zygotic genome activation and noncanonical imprinting

Satoshi Mashiko, Takuto Yamamoto, Naojiro Minami, Shuntaro Ikeda, Shinnosuke Honda

| Stem cells, regeneration & disease modelling

Primate-specific microRNA-1202 regulates dopaminergic neurogenesis by targeting APC2 and modulates WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway in midbrain organoid

Xiaohang Long, Dandan CAO, See-Wing Chan, Suyu Hao, Lingxiao Liu, Wai-Yee Chan, Hoi-Hung Cheung

Defining epithelial stem cell heterogeneity through undulating structures of the skin and oral mucosa

Mizuho Ishikawa, Yen Xuan Ngo, Ikuto Nishikawa, Hiroko Kato, Ryo Maeda, Ryosuke Mizuno, Jun Mizuno, Kenji Izumi, Hiromi Yanagisawa, Aiko Sada

The epigenetic factor Zrf1 regulates intestinal stem cell proliferation during midgut regeneration

Joshua Shin Shun Li, Ying Liu, Ah-Ram Kim, Mujeeb Qadiri, Jun Xu, Baolong Xia, Richard Binari, John M Asara, Yanhui Hu, Norbert Perrimon

Nuclear compression-mediated DNA damage drives ATR-dependent Lamin expression and mouse ESC differentiation

Tanusri Roy, Swetlana Ghosh, Niyati Piplani, Lakshmi Kavitha Sthanam, Niharika Tiwary, Sayak Dhar, W. Chingmei Wangsa Konyak, Santosh Surendra Panigrahi, Priya Singh, Divya Tej Sowpati, Sreelaja Nair, Sushil Kumar, P. Chandra Shekar, Shamik Sen

The AMPKα2/PHF2 axis is critical for turning over lipid droplets during muscle stem cell fate

Delia Cicciarello, Sandrine Mouradian, Mélodie Pitchecanin, William Jarassier, Anita Kneppers, Rémi Mounier, Laurent Schaeffer, Isabella Scionti

Cell cycle-dependent cues regulate temporal patterning of the Drosophila central brain neural stem cells

Gonzalo N. Morales Chaya, Mubarak Hussain Syed

From Morales Chaya et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.

Harnessing glucocorticoid receptor antagonization to enhance the efficacy of cardiac regenerative growth factors and cytokines

Silvia Da Pra, Stefano Boriati, Carmen Miano, Irene Del Bono, Francesca Sacchi, Chiara Bongiovanni, Alla Aharonov, Nicola Pianca, Riccardo Tassinari, Carlo Ventura, Mattia Lauriola, Eldad Tzahor, Gabriele D’Uva

The central clock drives metabolic rhythms in muscle stem cells

Valentina Sica, Jacob G Smith, Oleg Deryagin, Eva Andres, Vera Lukesova, Mirijam Egg, Nina Cabezas-Wallscheid, Salvador Aznar Benitah, Antonio L. Serrano, Eusebio Perdiguero, Pura Muñoz-Cánoves

Predicting Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Risk Using Patient-Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Yuanyuan Qin, Parth Chhetri, Elizabeth Theusch, Grace Lim, Sheila Teker, Yu-Lin Kuang, Shahrbanoo Keshavarz Aziziraftar, Mohammad Hossein Mehraban, Antonio Munoz-Howell, Varun Saxena, Dounia Le Guillou, Aras N. Mattis, Jacquelyn J. Maher, Marisa W. Medina

Wnt/β-catenin signaling promotes posterior axial regeneration in non-regenerative tissue of the annelid Capitella teleta

Lauren F. Kunselman, Elaine C. Seaver

ECM Signatures Reveal Quiescent Stem Cell Diversity in the Colonic Niche

Séamus E. Hickey, Massimo Andreatta, Christina Enright, Emmanuel Boucrot, Patrick Kiely, Siobhán B. Cashman, Saintiago J. Carmona, Kieran McGourty

High resolution multi-scale profiling of embryonic germ cell-like cells derivation reveals pluripotent state transitions in humans

Sarah Stucchi, Lessly P. Sepulveda-Rincon, Camille Dion, Gaja Matassa, Alessia Valenti, Cristina Cheroni, Alessandro Vitriolo, Filippo Prazzoli, George Young, Marco Tullio Rigoli, Martina Ciprietti, Benedetta Muda, Zoe Heckhausen, Petra Hajkova, Nicolò Caporale, Giuseppe Testa, Harry G. Leitch

Self-Organizing Assembloids Reveal Enteric Nervous System Dynamics in Gut Homeostasis and Regeneration

Ilke Sari, Beliz Uzun, Melda O. Oguz, Eren Gursoy, Nurmuhammet Satlykov, Dila A. Gemalmayan, Nagihan Gonullu, Tomas Valenta, Fatima Aerts Kaya, Merve Gizer, Petek Korkusuz, Bahar Degirmenci

Krüppel-like Factors Play Essential Roles in Regulating Pluripotency and the Formation of Neural Crest Stem Cells

Sara Rigney, Joshua R. York, Carole LaBonne

Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 1a regulates hematopoietic development in a dose-dependent manner

Amber D. Ide, Kelsey A. Carpenter, Mohamed Elaswad, Katherine Opria, Kendersley Marcellin, Carla Gilliland, Stephanie Grainger

A zebrafish model of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) deficiency-derived congenital disorders

Visakuo Tsurho, Carla Gilliland, Jessica Ensing, Elizabeth Vansickle, Nathan J. Lanning, Paul R. Mark, Stephanie Grainger

Recreating coronary vascularization and sympathetic innervation of myocardium on a human pluripotent stem cell-derived heart organoid

Mariana A. Branco, Mafalda Marques Nunes, Ana Luísa Rayagra, Miguel F. Tenreiro, Joaquim M.S. Cabral, Maria Margarida Diogo

Distinct origin and fate for fetal hematopoietic progenitors

F. Soares-da-Silva, G. Nogueira, Marie-Pierre Mailhe, L. Freyer, A. Perkins, S. Hatano, Y. Yoshikai, P. Pereira, A. Bandeira, R. Elsaid, E. Gomez-Perdiguero, A. Cumano

Cholangiocytes contribute to hepatocyte regeneration after partial liver injury during growth spurt in zebrafishv

Sema Elif Eski, Jiarui Mi, Macarena Pozo-Morales, Gabriel Garnik Hovhannisyan, Camille Perazzolo, Rita Manco, Imane Ez-Zammoury, Dev Barbhaya, Anne Lefort, Frédérick Libert, Federico Marini, Esteban N. Gurzov, Olov Andersson, Sumeet Pal Singh

Chiari II brain malformation is secondary to open spina bifida

Maryam Clark, Timothy J. Edwards, Dawn Savery, Gabriel L. Galea, Nagaraj Samy, Erwin Pauws, Nicoletta Kessaris, Nicholas D.E. Greene, Andrew J. Copp

From Clark et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.

Intestinal stem cell renewal controlled by capillary morphogenesis gene 2 following injury

Lucie Bracq, Audrey Chuat, Béatrice Kunz, Olivier Burri, Romain Guiet, F. Gisou van der Goot

Enhanced yield and subtype identity of hPSC-derived midbrain dopamine neuron by modulation of WNT and FGF18 signaling

Tae Wan Kim, Jinghua Piao, Vittoria D Bocchi, So Yeon Koo, Se Joon Choi, Fayzan Chaudhry, Donghe Yang, Hyein S Cho, Emiliano Hergenreder, Lucia Ruiz Perera, Subhashini Joshi, Zaki Abou Mrad, Nidia Claros, Shkurte Ademi Donohue, Anika K. Frank, Ryan Walsh, Eugene V. Mosharov, Doron Betel, Viviane Tabar, Lorenz Studer

An unexpected mode of whole-body regeneration from reaggregated cell suspension in Hydractinia (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa)

Camille Curantz, Gabriel Krasovec, Helen R Horkan, Laura Ryan, Áine Varley, Uri Frank

Regulation of the lncRNA malat1/Egr1 Axis by Wnt, Notch and TGF-β signaling: A Key Mechanism in Retina Regeneration

Sharanya Premraj, Poonam Sharma, Mansi Chaudhary, Pooja Shukla, Kshitiz Yadav, Omkar Mahadeo Desai, Rajesh Ramachandran

AFM-based nanoscale characterization of physical interaction within hematopoietic stem cells niche at single-cell level

Andrzej Kubiak, Natalia Bryniarska-Kubiak, Mehmet Eren, Kacper Kowalski, Kinga Gawlińska, Patrycja Kwiecińska, Martine Biarnes-Pelicot, Marie Dessard, Jana El Husseiny, Ti-Thien N-Guyen, Pawel Kożuch, Olga Lis, Marta Targosz-Korecka, Pierre-Henri Puech, Krzysztof Szade

Fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 regulates satellite cell self-renewal and expansion during skeletal muscle repair

Meiricris Tomaz da Silva, Aniket S. Joshi, Ashok Kumar

A human organoid model of alveolar regeneration reveals distinct epithelial responses to interferon-gamma

Antonella F.M. Dost, Katarína Balážová, Carla Pou Casellas, Lisanne M. van Rooijen, Wisse Epskamp, Gijs J.F. van Son, Willine J. Wetering, Carmen Lopez-Iglesias, Harry Begthel, Peter J. Peters, Niels Smakman, Johan H. van Es, Hans Clevers

Nucleoredoxin regulates WNT signaling during pituitary stem cell differentiation

Michelle Brinkmeier, Leonard Y.M. Cheung, Sean P. O’Connell, Diana K Gutierrez, Eve C. Rhoads, Sally A. Camper, Shannon William Davis

BubR1 and Mad2 regulate adult midgut remodeling in Drosophila diapause

Yuya Adachi, Hiroki Nagai, Takako Fujichika, Aya Takahashi, Masayuki Miura, Yu-ichiro Nakajima

Estrogen-Related Receptor is Required in Adult Drosophila Females for Germline Stem Cell Maintenance

Anna B. Zike, Madison G. Abel, Sophie A. Fleck, Emily D. DeWitt, Lesley N. Weaver

Epidermal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles induce fibroblasts mesenchymal-epidermal transition to alleviate hypertrophic scar via the miR-200s/ZEBs axis

Miao Zhen, Juntao Xie, Rui Yang, Lijuan Liu, Hengdeng Liu, Xuefeng He, Suyue Gao, Junyou Zhu, Jingting Li, Bin Shu, Peng Wang

A niche-dependent redox rheostat regulates epithelial stem cell fate in the distal colon

Xi Chen, Krishnan Raghunathan, Bin Bao, Elsy Ngwa, Andrew Kwong, Zhongyang Wu, Stephen Babcock, Clara Baek, George Ye, Anoohya Muppirala, Qianni Peng, Michael Rutlin, Mantu Bhaumik, Daping Yang, Daniel Kotlarz, Unmesh Jadhav, Meenakshi Rao, Eranthie Weerapana, Xu Zhou, Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Scott B. Snapper, Jay R. Thiagarajah

Integrated transcriptomic analysis of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived osteogenic differentiation reveals a regulatory role of KLF16

Ying Ru, Meng Ma, Xianxiao Zhou, Divya Kriti, Ninette Cohen, Sunita D’Souza, Christoph Schaniel, Susan M. Motch Perrine, Sharon Kuo, Oksana Pichurin, Dalila Pinto, Genevieve Housman, Greg Holmes, Eric Schadt, Harm van Bakel, Bin Zhang, Ethylin Wang Jabs, Meng Wu

Glycan-Mediated Mechanosensing Regulates Megakaryocyte-Biased Hematopoietic Stem Cell Subsets

Alejandro Roisman, Leonardo Rivadeneyra, Lindsey Conroy, Melissa M. Lee-Sundlov, Natalia Weich, Simon Glabere, Shikan Zheng, Katelyn E. Rosenbalm, Mark Zogg, George Steinhardt, Anthony J. Veltri, Joseph T. Lau, Tongjun Gu, Hartmut Weiler, Ramon C. Sun, Karin M. Hoffmeister

A mosaic gastruloid model highlights the developmental stage-specific restriction of cell competition in mammalian pre-gastrulation

J.D. Frenster, S. Babin, J.B. Josende Garcia, P. Casani Galdon, P. Pascual-Mas, G. Robertson, J. Garcia Ojalvo, A. Martinez Arias

From Frenster et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.

Pancreatic injury induces β−cell regeneration in axolotl

Connor J. Powell, Hani D. Singer, Ashley R. Juarez, Ryan T. Kim, Duygu Payzin-Dogru, Aaron M. Savage, Noah J. Lopez, Steven J. Blair, Adnan Abouelela, Anita Dittrich, Stuart G. Akeson, Miten Jain, Jessica L. Whited

Decaying and expanding Erk gradients process memory of skeletal size during zebrafish fin regeneration

Ashley Rich, Ziqi Lu, Alessandro De Simone, Lucas Garcia, Jacqueline Janssen, Kazunori Ando, Jianhong Ou, Massimo Vergassola, Kenneth D. Poss, Stefano Di Talia

Selection of pre-leukemic hematopoietic stem cells driven by distinct extracellular matrix molecules

Maria Jassinskaja, Daniel Bode, Monika Gonka, Theodoros I Roumeliotis, Alexander J Hogg, Juan A Rubio Lara, Ellie Bennett, Joanna Milek, Bart Theeuwes, M S Vijayabaskar, Lilia Cabrera Cosme, James L C Che, Sandy MacDonald, Sophia Ahmed, Benjamin A Hall, Grace Vasey, Helena Kooi, Miriam Belmonte, Mairi S Shepherd, William J Brackenbury, Iwo Kucinski, Satoshi Yamazaki, Andrew N Holding, Alyssa H Cull, Nicola K Wilson, Berthold Göttgens, Jyoti Choudhary, David G Kent

Regulation of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) proliferation by Epithelial Growth Factor Like-7 (EGFL7)

Rohan Kulkarni, Chinmayee Goda, Alexander Rudich, Malith Karunasiri, Amog P Urs, Yaphet Bustos, Ozlen Balcioglu, Wenjun Li, Sadie Chidester, Kyleigh A Rodgers, Elizabeth AR Garfinkle, Ami Patel, Katherine E Miller, Phillip G Popovich, Shannon Elf, Ramiro Garzon, Adrienne M Dorrance

| Plant development

Epidermal Cell Dynamics Regulates Rice Lamina Joint Morphogenesis and Leaf Angle Formation through OsZHD1 and OsZHD2 Regulation

Yiru Xu, Heng Zhou, Xiaojiang Wu, Wuyu Cui, Shouling Xu, Xi He, Dan Xiang, Ming Zhou, Lilan Hong

Molecular mechanisms underlying the early steps of floral initiation in seasonal flowering genotypes of cultivated strawberry

Freya Maria Rosemarie Ziegler, Amelia Gaston, Karine Guy, Marie Devers, Erika Krueger, Bastienne Brauksiepe, Klaus Eimert, Sonia Osorio, Beatrice Denoyes, Bjoern Usadel

Decoding cellular transcriptional regulatory networks governing wheat inflorescence development

Xuemei Liu, Xuelei Lin, Jingmin Kang, Katie A. Long, Jingjing Yue, Chuan Chen, Dongzhi Wang, Ashleigh Lister, lain C. Macaulay, Xin Liu, Cristobal Uauy, Jun Xiao

A field-focused systems approach reveals mRNA covalent modifications linked to sorghum growth and development under drought stress

Li’ang Yu, Giovanni Melandri, Anna C. Dittrich, Sebastian Calleja, Kyle Palos, Aparna Srinivasan, Emily K Brewer, Riley Henderson, Ciara Denise Garcia, Xiaodan Zhang, Bruno Rozzi, Andrea Eveland, Susan J. Schroeder, David Stern, Aleksandra Skirycz, Eric Lyons, Elizabeth A. Arnold, Brian D. Gregory, Andrew D. L. Nelson, Duke Pauli

Overexpression of the MADS-box gene CRM3 in the fern Ceratopteris richardii affects sporophyte development

Robin Schulz, Günter Theißen

Spatiotemporal variation in cutin polymerization and remodeling mediated by GDSL-hydrolase enzymes during tomato fruit development

Glenn Philippe, Iben Sørensen, Aurore Guérault, Marcella J. Cross, David S. Domozych, Mads H. Clausen, Jocelyn K. C. Rose

Chloroplast genome editing of Rubisco boosts photosynthesis and plant growth

Wataru Yamori, Issei Nakazato, Qu Yuchen, Yukina Sanga, Tomoko Miyata, Ryo Uehara, Yuma Noto, Keiichi Namba, Hiroshi Fukayama, Hiroyoshi Matsumura, Shin-ichi Arimura

From Yamori et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.

Differences in apple fruit shape are independent of fruit size

Kylie DeViller, Daniel H. Chitwood, Sean Myles, Mao Li, Zoë Migicovsky

Genome-scale transcriptome augmentation during Arabidopsis thaliana photomorphogenesis

Geoffrey Schivre, Lea Wolff, Filippo Maria Mirasole, Elodie Armanet, Mhairi L..H Davidson, Adrien Vidal, Delphine Cumenal, Marie Dumont, Mickael Bourge, Celia Baroux, Clara Bourbousse, Fredy Barneche

Plasticity and invariance of Arabidopsis inflorescence and floral shoot apical meristems in response to mineral nutrients

Benoit Landrein, Katie Abley, Pau Formosa-Jordan, Elliot M Meyerowitz, Henrik Jonsson, James C.W. Locke

Distinct localization patterns of actin microfilaments during early cell plate formation in plants through deep learning-based image restoration

Suzuka Kikuchi, Takumi Kotaka, Yuga Hanaki, Minako Ueda, Takumi Higaki

An unexplored diversity for adaptation of germination to high temperatures in Brassica species

M. Tiret, M.-H. Wagner, L. Gay, E. Chenel, A. Dupont, C. Falentin, F. Gavory, K. Labadie, S. Ducournau, A.-M. Chèvre

| Environment, evolution and development

Towards a comprehensive anatomical matrix for crown birds: phylogenetic insights from the pectoral girdle and forelimb skeleton

Albert Chen, Elizabeth M. Steell, Roger B. J. Benson, Daniel J. Field

Defining the cell and molecular origins of the primate ovarian reserve

Sissy E. Wamaitha, Ernesto J. Rojas, Francesco Monticolo, Fei-man Hsu, Enrique Sosa, Amanda M. Mackie, Kiana Oyama, Maggie Custer, Melinda Murphy, Diana J. Laird, Jian Shu, Jon D. Hennebold, Amander T. Clark

Postnatal interaction of size and shape in the human endocranium and brain structures

Kuranosuke Takagi, Osamu Kondo

Evidence for evolution of a new sex chromosome within the Marchantiales haploid plant lineage

Yuan Fu, Xiaoxia Zhang, Tian Zhang, Wenjing Sun, Wenjun Yang, Yajing Shi, Jian Zhang, Qiang He, Deborah Charlesworth, Yuannian Jiao, Zhiduan Chen, Bo Xu

Developmentally cascading structures do not lose evolutionary potential, but compound developmental instability in rat molars

Natasha S. Vitek, Ella Saks, Amy Dong, Robert W. Burroughs, Devin L Ward, Emma Pomeroy, Malgorzata Martin-Gronert, Susan E. Ozanne

Somatic evolution of stem cell mutations in long-lived plants

Frank Johannes

Genomic Resources for the Scuttle Fly Megaselia abdita: A Model Organism for Comparative Developmental Studies in Flies

Ayse Tenger-Trolander, Ezra Amiri, Valentino Gantz, Chun Wai Kwan, Sheri A Sanders, Urs Schmidt-Ott

Macroevolution of fly wings proceeds along developmental lines of least resistance

Patrick T. Rohner, David Berger

The developmental environment mediates adult seminal proteome allocation in male Drosophila melanogaster

Rebecca von Hellfeld, Rebecca Konietzny, Philip D. Charles, Roman Fischer, Benedikt M. Kessler, Stuart Wigby, Irem Sepil, Juliano Morimoto

From spots to stripes: Evolution of pigmentation patterns in monkeyflowers via modulation of a reaction-diffusion system and its prepatterns

Mei Liang, Lee Ringham, Changning Ye, Xu Yan, Nathan Schaumburger, Mikolaj Cieslak, Michael Blinov, Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz, Yao-Wu Yuan

From Liang et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.

Single-nuclei multiome ATAC and RNA sequencing reveals the molecular basis of thermal plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster embryos

Thomas S. O’Leary, Emily E. Mikucki, Sumaetee Tangwancharoen, Joseph R. Boyd, Seth Frietze, Sara Helms Cahan, Brent L. Lockwood

Ethanol induces craniofacial defects in Bmp mutants independent of nkx2.3 by elevating cranial neural crest cell apoptosis

Hieu Vo, C. Ben Lovely

Chaetognaths exhibit the most extensive repertoire of Hox genes among protostomes.

June F. Ordonez, Tim Wollesen

Gene regulatory mechanisms underlying evolutionary adaptations of homologous neuronal cell types

Nuria Flames, Andrea Millan-Trejo, Carlos Mora-Martinez, Adrian Tarazona-Sanchez, Carla Lloret-Fernandez, Rafael Alis, Antonio Jordan, Arantza Barrios

The Expression of Pax6 Genes in an Eyeless Arachnid Suggests Their Ancestral Role in Arachnid Head Development

Isabella Joyce, Austen A. Barnett

Divergent morphologies with convergent performance in the mandible of pelagiarian fishes

Andrew Knapp, Gizeh Rangel-de Lazaro, Matt Friedman, Zerina Johanson, Kory M Evans, Sam Giles, Hermione T Beckett, Anjali Goswami

Dataset on Temperature Dependency of Zebrafish Early Development

Angelina Miller, Katja Lisa Schröder, Karsten Eike Braun, Caitlin Steindorf, Richard Ottermanns, Martina Roß-Nickoll, Thomas Backhaus

Molecular basis of arthropod appendage diversity

Heather S. Bruce, Nipam H. Patel

Heterozygosity at a conserved candidate sex determination locus is associated with female development in the clonal raider ant

Kip D. Lacy, Jina Lee, Kathryn Rozen-Gagnon, Wei Wang, Thomas S. Carroll, Daniel J.C. Kronauer

Comparative analysis of Xenopus mesonephric transcriptomics: Conservation of the developmental lineage of nephron stages

Mark E. Corkins, Adrian Romero-Mora, MaryAnne A. Achieng, Nils O. Lindström, Rachel K. Miller

Interpreting patterns of X chromosomal relative to autosomal diversity in aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis)

John W. Terbot II, Vivak Soni, Cyril J. Versoza, Mark Milhaven, Adriana Calahorra-Oliart, Devangana Shah, Susanne P. Pfeifer, Jeffrey D. Jensen

John W. Terbot II, Vivak Soni, Cyril J. Versoza, Mark Milhaven, Adriana Calahorra-Oliart, Devangana Shah, Susanne P. Pfeifer, Jeffrey D. Jensen

Evolution and development of segmented body plan revealed by engrailed and wnt1 gene expression in the annelid Alitta virens

Arsenii I. Kairov, Vitaly V. Kozin

Inverse hourglass pattern of conservation in rodent molar development

Jérémy Ganofsky, Mathilde Estevez-Villar, Marion Mouginot, Sébastien Moretti, Marion Nyamari, Marc Robinson-Rechavi, Sophie Pantalacci, Marie Sémon

Cell Biology

Follicular mural granulosa cells stockpile glycogen to fuel corpus luteum pre-vascularization

Jianning Liao, Qinghua Liu, Cong Liu, Guiqiong Liu, Xiang Li, Xiaodong Wang, Yaqin Wang, Ruiyan Liu, Hao Wu, Hongru Shi, Yongheng Zhao, Wenkai Ke, Zaohong Ran, Zian Wu, Bowen Tan, Chaoli Wang, Xunping Jiang, Quanfeng Wang, Qingzhen Xie, Guoshi Liu, Changjiu He

Tau mediated regulation of Rho1- cytoskeletal dynamics in shaping renal tubule development in Drosophila

Neha Tiwari, Madhu Gwaldas Tapadia

Long-range organization of primary intestinal fibroblasts guides directed and persistent migration of organoid-derived intestinal epithelia

Vanesa Fernández-Majada, Jordi Comelles, Aina Abad-Lázaro, Verónica Acevedo, Anna Esteve-Codina, Xavier Hernando-Momblona, Eduard Batlle, Elena Martinez

Protein phosphatase 4 is required for centrosome asymmetry in fly neural stem cells

Roberto Carlos Segura, Emmanuel Gallaud, Adam von Barnau Sythoff, Kumar Aavula, Jennifer A. Taylor, Danielle Vahdat, Jan Pielage, Clemens Cabernard

Perdurant TTC21B protein in the early mouse embryo is required for proper forebrain neural progenitor proliferation

Rebekah Niewoehner, David Paulding, Jesus Leal, Rolf W. Stottmann

Functional characterization of eicosanoid signaling in Drosophila development

Daiki Fujinaga, Cebrina Nolan, Naoki Yamanaka

Wnt/LRP6 signaling imbalance impairs ciliogenesis in human retina epithelial cells

Cheng Yuan, Ayushi Branushali, Matias Simons, Sergio P. Acebrón, Gislene Pereira

CONSERVED NUCLEAR MORPHOLOGY IDENTIFIES FUNCTIONAL RADIAL GLIA NEURAL PROGENITORS

J.P. Soriano, C. Borau, R. Sortino, L. Garma, J.A. Ortega, J. Asín, S. Alcántara

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α is required to establish the larval glycolytic program in Drosophila melanogaster

Yasaman Heidarian, Tess D. Fasteen, Liam Mungcal, Kasun Buddika, Nader H. Mahmoudzadeh, Travis Nemkov, Angelo D’Alessandro, Jason M. Tennessen

SDS-22 stabilizes the PP1 catalytic subunits GSP-1/-2 contributing to polarity establishment in C. elegans embryos

Yi Li, Ida Calvi, Monica Gotta

Chemokine induces phase transition from non-directional to directional migration during angiogenesis

Ning Gui, Keisuke Sako, Moe Fukumoto, Naoki Mochizuki, Hiroyuki Nakajima

Linage priming and cell type proportioning depends on the interplay between stochastic and deterministic factors

William M. Salvidge, Chris Brimson, Nicole Gruenheit, Li-Yao Huang, Catherine J. Pears, Jason B. Wolf, Christopher R.L. Thompson

Securin and cyclin B1-CDK1, but not SGO2, regulate separase activity during meiosis I in mouse oocytes

Benjamin Wetherall, David Bulmer, Alexandra Sarginson, Christopher Thomas, Suzanne Madgwick

Mitochondria as Indispensable Yet Replaceable Components of Germ Plasm: Insights into Primordial Germ Cell Specification in Non-Teleost Sturgeons

Linan Gao, Roman Franěk, Tomáš Tichopád, Marek Rodina, David Gela, Radek Šindelka, Taiju Saito, Martin Pšenička

Antioxidant role of the GABA shunt in regulating redox balance in blood progenitors during Drosophila hematopoiesis

Manisha Goyal, Sakshi Tiwari, Bruce Cooper, Ramaswamy Subramanian, Tina Mukherjee

Intense oocyte competition builds the female reproductive reserve in mice

Hua Zhang, Yan Zhang, Yingnan Bo, Kaixin Cheng, Lu Mu, Jing Liang, Lingyu Li, Xindi Hu, Ge Wang, Kaiying Geng, Xuebing Yang, Wenji Wang, Longzhong Jia, Xueqiang Xu, Jingmei Hu, Chao Wang, Yuwen Ke, Guoliang Xia

Decoding human placental cellular and molecular responses to maternal obesity and fetal growth

Hong Jiang, Emilie Derisoud, Denise Parreira, Nayere Taebnia, Paulo R. Jannig, Reza Zandi Shafagh, Allan Zhao, Congru Li, Macarena Ortiz, Manuel Alejandro Maliqueo, Elisabet Stener-Victorin, Volker M. Lauschke, Qiaolin Deng

A cell-matrix interaction regulates the undifferentiated state and self-renewal capacity of avian primordial germ cells

Kennosuke Ichikawa, Yuzuha Motoe, Tenkai Watanabe, Ryo Ezaki, Mei Matsuzaki, Hiroyuki Horiuchi, Michael J. McGrew

Centriole Loss in Embryonic Development Disrupts Axonal Pathfinding and Muscle Integrity

Beatriz González, Júlia Sellés-Altés, Jèrica Pla-Parron, Judith Castro-Ribera, Sofia J. Araújo

A sperm–oocyte protein partnership required for egg activation in Caenorhabditis elegans

Tatsuya Tsukamoto, Ji Kent Kwah, Mark E. Zweifel, Naomi Courtemanche, Micah D. Gearhart, Katherine M. Walstrom, Aimee Jaramillo-Lambert, David Greenstein

Supracellular contractility in Xenopus laevis embryonic epithelia regulated by extracellular nucleotides and the purinergic G-protein coupled receptor P2Y2

Sagar D. Joshi, Timothy R. Jackson, Lin Zhang, Carsen Stuckenholz, Lance A. Davidson

Modelling

The evolution of mutation rates in the light of development and cell-lineage selection

Paco Majic, Malvika Srivastava, Justin Crocker

Strategies for resolving cellular phylogenies from sequential lineage tracing data

Nicola Mulberry, Tanja Stadler

Self-renewal without niche instruction, feedback or fine-tuning

Ben D MacArthur, Philip Greulich

Morphogen Patterning in Dynamic Tissues

Alex M. Plum, Mattia Serra

Mathematical modelling of tissue growth control by a negative feedback

B. Kazmierczak, V. Volpert

STOCHASTIC MODELING OF HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL DYNAMICS

Carlos Alfaro-Quinde, Katerina E. Krstanovic, Paula A. Vásquez, Katie L. Kathrein

The Network Basis of Pattern Formation: A Topological Atlas of Multifunctional Turing Networks

Laura Regueira López de Garayo, Luciano Marcon

Tools & Resources

The Binary Cellular Biology of Human Growth II Calculating the Size of the Human Fetus from the Size of its Parts

Zifan Gu, Rashi Gupta, David E Cantonwine, Thomas F McElrath, Henning Tiemeier, James Selib Michaelson

A method for inducing a senescence trend in mesenchymal stem cells using D-galactose

Xiaoming Ji, Xiaoyu Zhou, Tingitng Chen, Chunchun Duan, Wenjing Tian, Liyang Zhu, Yan Ma, Liyang Gao

Generation of a Nr2f2-driven inducible Cre mouse to target interstitial cells in the reproductive system

Paula R Brown, Martin A Estermann, Artiom Gruzdev, Gregory J Scott, Thomas B Hagler, Manas K Ray, Humphrey Hung-Chang Yao

Feeder-free culture of naive human pluripotent stem cells retaining embryonic, extraembryonic and blastoid generation potential

Giada Rossignoli, Michael Oberhuemer, Ida Sophie Brun, Irene Zorzan, Anna Osnato, Anne Wenzel, Emiel van Genderen, Andrea Drusin, Giorgia Panebianco, Nicolò Magri, Mairim Alexandra Solis, Chiara Colantuono, Sam Samuël Franciscus Allegonda van Knippenberg, Thi Xuan Ai Pham, Sherif Khodeer, Paolo Grumati, Davide Cacchiarelli, Paolo Martini, Nicolas Rivron, Vincent Pasque, Jan Jakub Żylicz, Martin Leeb, Graziano Martello

Gene expression patterns of the developing human face at single cell resolution reveal cell type contributions to normal facial variation and disease risk

Nagham Khouri-Farah, Emma Wentworth Winchester, Brian M. Schilder, Kelsey Robinson, Sarah W. Curtis, Nathan G. Skene, Elizabeth J. Leslie-Clarkson, Justin Cotney

Zonal endothelial cell heterogeneity underlies murine renal vascular development

Peter M Luo, Neha Ahuja, Christopher Chaney, Danielle Pi, Aleksandra Cwiek, Zaneta Markowska, Chitkale Hiremath, Denise Marciano, Karen K Hirschi, M Luisa Iruela-Arispe, Thomas J Carroll, Ondine Cleaver

Deciphering the zebrafish hepatic duct heterogeneity and cell plasticity using lineage tracing and single-cell transcriptomics

Jiarui Mi, Lipeng Ren, Ka-Cheuk Liu, Lorenzo Buttò, Daniel Colquhoun, Olov Andersson

From Mi et al. This image is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.

In vivo measurements of receptor tyrosine kinase activity reveal feedback regulation of a developmental gradient

Emily K. Ho, Rebecca P. Kim-Yip, Alison G. Simpkins, Payam E. Farahani, Harrison R. Oatman, Eszter Posfai, Stanislav Y. Shvartsman, Jared E. Toettcher

Variability vs Phenotype: multimodal analysis of Dravet Syndrome Brain Organoids powered by Deep Learning

Isabel Turpin, Adriana Modrego, Andrea Martí-Sarrias, Anna-Christina Haeb, Laura García-González, Jordi Soriano, Núria Ruiz, Irene Peñuelas-Haro, Elisa Espinet, Daniel Tornero, Oscar Lao, Sandra Acosta

Feeder-free culture of naive human pluripotent stem cells retaining embryonic, extraembryonic and blastoid generation potential

Giada Rossignoli, Michael Oberhuemer, Ida Sophie Brun, Irene Zorzan, Anna Osnato, Anne Wenzel, Emiel van Genderen, Andrea Drusin, Giorgia Panebianco, Nicolò Magri, Mairim Alexandra Solis, Chiara Colantuono, Sam Samuël Franciscus Allegonda van Knippenberg, Thi Xuan Ai Pham, Sherif Khodeer, Paolo Grumati, Davide Cacchiarelli, Paolo Martini, Nicolas Rivron, Vincent Pasque, Jan Jakub Żylicz, Martin Leeb, Graziano Martello

Toti: an integrated multi-omics database to decipher the epigenetic regulation of gene expression in totipotent stem cells

Yi Chai, Ruiying Zhang, Shunze Jia, Danfei Zhu, Siyi Chen, Xudong Fu, Xin Sheng

Genetic deconvolution of embryonic and maternal cell-free DNA in spent culture medium of human preimplantation embryos through deep learning

Zhenyi Zhang, Jie Qiao, Yidong Chen, Peijie Zhou

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Kumayl Alloo: A Trailblazing Neuroscientist Bridging Gaps in Parkinson’s Research

Posted by , on 4 February 2025

For many years, Parkinson’s disease (PD) research has predominantly focused on its well-known motor symptoms, such as tremors, rigidity, and bradykinesia. However, nonmotor symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and cognitive issues, have largely been overlooked, despite their significant impact on patients’ quality of life. These nonmotor symptoms often appear before motor dysfunction and can offer valuable insights into the progression of PD.

Kumayl Alloo, a research scholar at Columbia University’s Benson and Huntley Labs and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is addressing this gap by investigating the complex interaction between the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to PD’s nonmotor effects on the brain.

“Our lab has been exploring how the LRRK2-G2019S mutation, a major genetic risk factor for PD, interacts with chronic stress, a well-known environmental risk factor, to influence nonmotor symptoms,” Alloo explained. “Our previous studies in mouse models exposed to both factors revealed behavioral and neurological changes, but we didn’t know which specific brain regions or synapses were involved. We understood the ‘what,’ but not the ‘where.’” This challenge became the cornerstone of Alloo’s research, which seeks to uncover the neural mechanisms responsible for these changes.

In their latest study (Guevara, Alloo, et al., 2024), Alloo and his team made significant progress by identifying how these risk factors interact in a sex-specific manner. Their research showed that the LRRK2 mutation and chronic stress together affected synaptic activity in areas such as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and basolateral amygdala (BLA)—regions involved in emotional regulation and cognition. These alterations were linked to increased anxiety-like behaviors in male models, while female models displayed varying levels of resilience or susceptibility depending on the type of stress experienced.

These findings shed light on how genetic and environmental risk factors can disrupt brain circuits before motor symptoms appear, offering the possibility of earlier interventions. This work also sets the stage for future research into PD detection, classification, and treatment. “Now that we’ve pinpointed the areas involved, future therapeutic efforts can target these regions more effectively,” Alloo said.

An innovative and exceptional young scientist, already with over 15 peer-reviewed, funded research projects, books, abstracts, and journal publications to his name, Alloo’s contributions exemplify the importance of fostering early-career researchers to tackle pressing challenges in neurodegeneration. His work is helping to redefine our understanding of PD.

“My long-term goal is to become a physician-scientist, bridging the gap between research and clinical practice,” he says. “This unique combination allows me to address the clinical needs of patients while conducting research that directly informs those needs. By integrating bench-to-bedside approaches, where treatment and research mutually benefit one another, we can develop innovative cures and therapies.”

As Kumayl Alloo and his lab continue to deepen our understanding of Parkinson’s disease, their work demonstrates the power of combining academic research with clinical practice to tackle one of the most challenging neurodegenerative disorders of our time.

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Deforming Nuclei: a way to move through the crowd!

Posted by , on 3 February 2025

In their recent paper, Maia-Gil and colleagues explored whether and how nuclear properties can influence nuclear positioning in vivo. Their work revealed that in the densely packed retinal zebrafish neuroepithelium, nuclear deformability facilitates apical nuclear migration (Maia-Gil et al. 2024). Here, they share the science and the adventures that led to the development of this project.

What was already known?

The Norden Lab has been focused on understanding the cell and tissue biology behind zebrafish retinal development for 1.5 decades by now. The retina develops from a pseudostratified neuroepithelium, composed of a single, densely packed layer of highly elongated cells. Among other topics, the lab has been investigating a hallmark of such pseudostratified neuroepithelia which is apical nuclear migration before mitosis. This phenomenon is characterised by a fast and directed movement of nuclei toward the apical surface of the tissue. At the start of this project, we already knew:

  1. Why nuclei migrate apically: their apical positioning before cell division ensures tissue integrity (Strzyz et al. 2015).
  2. When this migration occurs: during the G2 phase of the cell cycle (Leung et al. 2011).
  3. How nuclei move: using an actin-dependent mechanism (Norden et al. 2009 and Yanakieva et al. 2019).
Schematic representing nuclear apical migration during the G2 phase of the cell cycle (Adapted from Yanakieva et al. 2019).

The big question: how to move through the crowd … and to get to the bar?

One evening, while the lab was out for a social gathering, we found ourselves facing a packed bar, and I was struggling to get my favourite drink – Porto Tónico. Determined to reach the bartender, we started brainstorming different ways to navigate through the crowd quickly and efficiently. In the middle of many creative (and impractical) ideas, someone jokingly suggested: “What if we could deform and squeeze through the crowd – just like nuclei do during apical migration?”

This offhand idea raised a novel question: Does nuclear deformability facilitate apical nuclear migration in the crowded retinal neuroepithelium?

Nuclei (grey) dynamics during zebrafish retina development. (Maia-Gil et al. 2024).

Our approach: stiffening nuclei and tracking their movement during organ development

We already knew that zebrafish retinal nuclei are highly deformable and express low levels of Lamin A/C (Yanakieva et al. 2019), a nuclear envelope protein with expression level that correlates with nuclear stiffness. To test our hypothesis that nuclear deformability helps apical migration, we increased nuclear stiffness by using a previously generated transgenic zebrafish line in which all nuclei overexpress Lamin A (Amini et al. 2022). With crucial support from our collaborators, we used atomic force microscopy (with Elias Barriga and Jaime Espina) and developed a mechanical model that represents confined nuclei as compressible droplets (with Anna Erzberger and Roman Belousov) to confirm that Lamin A overexpression indeed led to stiffer nuclei in the retinal neuroepithelium.

The run to the apical side

With this knowledge and our established tools, we used light-sheet microscopy to image zebrafish retinas and quantify apical nuclear migration in vivo. We aimed to answer several key questions:

  • Do stiffer, Lamin A overexpressing nuclei reach the apical side? Yes, but in contrast to control nuclei, stiffer nuclei take twice as long to cover equivalent distances. This delay occurs regardless of whether the surrounding nuclei are stiff or normal, suggesting that nuclear deformability facilitates migration in a cell-autonomous manner.
  • Does the deformability of surrounding nuclei affect apical migration? Yes! Control nuclei surrounded by stiffer nuclei also take longer and show less directed movement. This indicates that the mechanical properties of the environment influence nuclear migration.
  • Does increased nuclear stiffness impair apical migration in a less crowded epithelium? Here, the effect was less pronounced. Lamin A overexpression in the zebrafish hindbrain, a less crowded neuroepithelium, had only minor effects on apical nuclear migration. This suggests that the impact of nuclear stiffness depends on tissue packing.
  • Does nuclear stiffness affect other processes requiring cellular deformation? Yes! Control cells took longer to round up before mitosis when in a stiffer environment, showing that nuclear properties can influence mitotic entry in a non-cell-autonomous manner.

Together, these findings demonstrate that nuclear properties influence nuclear positioning and mitotic entry in a tissue-dependent manner during neuroepithelial development.

A personal developmental project…during revisions

My belly was growing, fatigue was setting in, and the time was ticking. The revision email arrived with a challenging to-do list. Priorities had to be redefined and our strategy adjusted. We needed more hands on the bench and had to dig deep into previous data. What could have been an erratic roller coaster turned into a successful and rewarding scientific adventure. I am grateful to have been surrounded by outstanding scientists who also advocate for woman in science. Their encouragement was invaluable – not only for the success of my PhD project but also for the development of the two most beautiful retinas I have ever seen.

References

1. Maia-Gil, M., Gorjão, M., Belousov, R., Espina, J.A., Coelho, J., Gouhier, J., Ramos, A.P., Barriga, E.H., Erzberger, A., and Norden, C. (2024). Nuclear deformability facilitates apical nuclear migration in the developing zebrafish retina. Current Biology 34, 5429-5443.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.015.

2. Strzyz, P.J., Lee, H.O., Sidhaye, J., Weber, I.P., Leung, L.C., and Norden, C. (2015). Interkinetic Nuclear Migration Is Centrosome Independent and Ensures Apical Cell Division to Maintain Tissue Integrity. Developmental Cell 32, 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2014.12.001.

3. Leung, L., Klopper, A.V., Grill, S.W., Harris, W.A., and Norden, C. (2011). Apical migration of nuclei during G2 is a prerequisite for all nuclear motion in zebrafish neuroepithelia. Development 138, 5003–5013. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.071522.

4. Norden, C., Young, S., Link, B.A., and Harris, W.A. (2009). Actomyosin Is the Main Driver of Interkinetic Nuclear Migration in the Retina. Cell 138, 1195–1208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2009.06.032.

5. Yanakieva, I., Erzberger, A., Matejčić, M., Modes, C.D., and Norden, C. (2019). Cell and tissue morphology determine actin-dependent nuclear migration mechanisms in neuroepithelia. Journal of Cell Biology 218, 3272–3289. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201901077.

6. Amini, R., Bhatnagar, A., Schlüßler, R., Möllmert, S., Guck, J., and Norden, C. (2022). Amoeboid-like migration ensures correct horizontal cell layer formation in the developing vertebrate retina. eLife 11, e76408. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.76408.

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YEN 2025 Conference: Registration is open!

Posted by , on 30 January 2025

Register now for the Young Embryologist Network meeting – Monday 19 May 2025 at the Francis Crick Institute.

Are you an early career researcher in developmental and stem cell biology? Then come to the 17th Young Embryologist Network Conference! Registration and abstract submission for talks and posters can be accessed here: YEN 2025 Registration form. Abstract deadline is the 13 April 2025.

Check out our poster with art by Christophe Wirtz.

YEN has a long history of enabling PhD students and early career researchers to share their research and network [1,2], as well as supporting the developmental biology research community [3]. Each year, YEN conferences are organised by students and postdoctoral researchers based in the UK. In recent years, the scope and reach of the YEN conference has grown significantly. We are committed to providing an open and free networking opportunity for developmental and stem cell biologists.

For YEN 2025 we again have a great line-up of speakers, with Nicolas Rivron from the Austrian Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA, ÖAW) giving the Sammy Lee Memorial Lecture on his work on blastocysts and in vitro embryo models. We will also welcome Peter Rugg-Gunn, Group Leader in Epigenetics of Human Development and Head of Public Engagement at the Babraham Institute (Cambridge UK) and Maud Borensztein, Group Leader at IGMM-Montpellier (France), who is working on X chromosome reactivation during germline development.

We are also pleased to announce this year’s Scientific Perspectives talks, which will focus on ‘Embryology at the frontiers of technology’ with Rob Tetley from Nikon Instruments and Simon Hanassab from Imperial College London, who is working on how AI can improve decision making in IVF.

PhD students and postdocs who would like to give a short talk or present a poster are invited to submit an abstract. We welcome international applications and have secured some funding to support travel grants. Please register using the form at forms.gle/fxtmNHjEziVTFprN6.

As always, we are very grateful to our sponsors including The Company of Biologists, 10X Genomics and Azenta, The Crick for hosting us and to the participants for attending.

Visit our website for updates: youngembryologists.org

Don’t forget to follow us on social media:

Instagram: @yen_network

BlueSky: @yen-network.bsky.social

(Website formerly known as) Twitter: @YEN_community

References:

[1] Meeting report- 2023 Young Embryologist Network Conference: https://thenode.biologists.com/meeting-report-2023-young-embryologist-network-conference/meeting-reports/

[2] The Young Embryologist Network Conference 2019: Meeting Summary: https://thenode.biologists.com/the-young-embryologist-network-conference-2019-meeting-summary/news/

[3] Jack Darius Morgan; Disability and developmental biology. Development 15 August 2023; 150 (16): dev201905. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.201905

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Categories: Events, News

How to make labs more sustainable

Posted by , on 27 January 2025

Would you like to learn more about how to make your lab greener? We are excited to offer you insight into what sustainable action you can put into practice in the lab.

Jeroen Dobbelaere is our guest author for our newest series of blogs entitled “How to make labs more sustainable”. In this series, Jeroen will introduce you to useful advice and resources that can help you make your lab more environmentally- friendly. It will include aspects such as energy usage, lab equipment selection and procurement.

The first two blogs of this series have already been published and they include tips on how to manage energy usage in your lab more sustainably, but also provide the big picture of the overall environmental impact of our academic work .

With Jeroen’s broad experience in both sustainability and academia, his blogs will be a great primer on how to combine these aspects. See more about Jeroen here.

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Categories: Lab Life

Divide and conquer. Or don’t divide but still conquer.

Posted by , on 25 January 2025

Behind the paper story for “Cell state transitions are decoupled from cell division during early embryo development

As embryos develop, their cells perform two fundamental tasks: they divide to populate the developing organism, and they specialize into different cell types—skin cells, brain cells, and more—to carry out a variety of essential functions. In our paper, we set out to explore how the process of cell division influences the differentiation of various cell types during early development.

When I joined Allon Klein’s lab, the team had just published single-cell atlases of zebrafish and frog development (Wagner et al. and Briggs et al. 2018), offering a detailed map of cell states over several hours of embryonic development. Allon and I began brainstorming ways to use them to learn new biology beyond cataloging transcriptional states. We had long discussions on project directions and various fundamental developmental processes we could investigate—genome organization, metabolism, or cell division. As I started reading literature, cell division quickly stood out.

Due to its periodic nature, it has been hypothesized that cell division could act as a clock for developmental events. However, much of the literature does not support the universality of this hypothesis. For instance, studies in ascidian embryos showed that when cell division was blocked at the eight-cell stage, some cells still expressed muscle markers at the correct developmental time, suggesting that cell division was not required for commitment to the muscle lineage (Whittaker et al. 1973, figure below). While several similar studies had tested the impact of blocking division on a few marker genes, a systematic investigation into the role of cell division in forming all major cell types during early development was missing. So, we decided to do just that—in zebrafish embryos.

Zebrafish provided an ideal system for this question because their cells divide and differentiate rapidly in the first day of development (Figure below). Going into my first experiments, I expected to find at least some cell types whose differentiation would depend on active cell cycling. Alternatively, I imagined encountering intermediate “mixed” cell states which I could then follow up on for the rest of my PhD. But, to our surprise, all major cell types differentiated just fine without cell division.

For a while, I was stuck on how to move forward in the project. I spent nearly a year analyzing gene expression changes between control embryos and embryos arrested in the cell cycle. Two key patterns emerged:

  1. Blood cells differentiated more slowly in arrested embryos, indicating a cell type-specific delay in differentiation.
  2. Arrested embryos exhibited a characteristic transcriptional program related to cell cycle arrest that was global and independent of cell type.

While differentiation seemed largely unaffected, cell division also controls the proportions of cells across tissues and organs. We asked how blocking division influenced this. One possible outcome was that cell types that normally divide more frequently would be disproportionately reduced in arrested embryos. Alternatively, the embryos might activate a “compensation” mechanism to maintain normal cell proportions.

To answer this, we needed to estimate how many times each cell type has divided under normal conditions—a challenging problem. Emerging lineage tracing tools will likely solve this soon, but we took a computational approach, inferring cell division numbers from single-cell transcriptome data and lineage trees. As expected, cell types that typically divide the most were the most affected by division arrest. However, quantitatively, the effect was less severe than anticipated, suggesting some level of compensation.

Thus, while cell division is not necessary for differentiation, division influences the timing and proportions of cell types.

References

Whittaker, J. R. “Segregation during ascidian embryogenesis of egg cytoplasmic information for tissue-specific enzyme development.” Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences 70.7 (1973): 2096-2100.

Wagner, Daniel E., et al. “Single-cell mapping of gene expression landscapes and lineage in the zebrafish embryo.” Science 360.6392 (2018): 981-987.

Briggs, James A., et al. “The dynamics of gene expression in vertebrate embryogenesis at single-cell resolution.” Science 360.6392 (2018): eaar5780

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Categories: Research

News from Development: January 2025

Posted by , on 22 January 2025

[This January newsletter was originally sent out to Development’s journal news mailing list.]

Welcome to Development’s January newsletter. We’ll start by wishing all our readers a happy and productive 2025, which – as highlighted below – marks The Company of Biologists’ 100th birthday. 

Celebrating 100 years of The Company of Biologists

Development’s publisher, The Company of Biologists, was founded in 1925 and this year marks our 100th anniversary. You can find out more about the history and ethos of this unique organisation in our January Editorial. We’ll be celebrating throughout the year with content in the journal, our community sites and on social media – check out the #100biologists hashtag on Bluesky and X to find out about some of the extraordinary scientists who’ve been associated with the Company over our long history. We’d also love to hear your stories – how has the Company supported you in your career? Please send us your ‘message in a bottle’ to let us know.

The centrepiece of our celebrations is the Biologists @ 100 conference, being held in Liverpool 24-27 March 2025. We’d love to see you there. The registration deadline is 28 February 2025.

Constructive Critics: Development’s approach to peer review

We all know that the peer review process isn’t perfect and here at Development we’re always trying to find ways to ease the path to publication without compromising our high standards. This Editorial summarises some of the things we’ve done in recent years, including our latest recommendation that authors should include a ‘Limitations’ section in their article – providing the opportunity for frank discussion of potential caveats of the work.

We also invite you to read the follow-up blog posts to this Editorial, written by our Editor-in-Chief James Briscoe and Executive Editor Katherine Brown, and we welcome your thoughts on this – feel free to comment over on the Node.

Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

We are delighted to announce a call for papers for our 2025 special issue. Guest-edited by Meritxell Huch and Mansi Srivastava, working alongside our team of Academic Editors, this issue will focus on developmental processes beyond the embryo. Full details of the scope of the issue can be found on our website and you’re welcome to send us a presubmission enquiry if you’re unsure whether the scope of your work fits within this issue.

Pathway to Independence programme: call for applications

Are you a postdoc planning to go on the job market this year? Could you benefit from some mentorship, training and networking opportunities? If so, Development’s Pathway to Independence programme could be for you. Now in its third year, this competitive scheme aims to support postdocs as they seek their first independent position: we welcome applications from across the globe and look forward to growing our network of PI fellows.

The Company of Biologists’ Grants and Workshops: upcoming deadlines

Pathway to Independence programme: 31 January 2025

Travelling Fellowships: 31 January 2025

Scientific Meeting Grants and Sustainable Conferencing Grants: 7 March 2025

JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants (for attending a microscopy training course): 7 March 2025

Recent highlights from the journal

Allometry in limb regeneration and scale-invariant patterning as the basis of normal morphogenesis from different sizes of blastemas
Yoshihiro Morishita, Akira Satoh and colleagues

Axolotl limb regeneration demonstrates scale-invariant patterning and allometric scaling, ensuring consistent limb morphogenesis from varying blastema sizes through coordinated Shh and Fgf8 signaling.

Early autonomous patterning of the anteroposterior axis in gastruloids
Vikas Trivedi and colleagues

Autonomous anteroposterior polarization in aggregates of mouse embryonic stem cells illustrates how alternative initial cell states between the embryo and the aggregates may converge onto similar fates.

SLC25A1 regulates placental development to ensure embryonic heart morphogenesis
Ming Sun, Zhongzhou Yang and colleagues

The mitochondrial citrate carrier, SLC25A1, regulates trophoblast differentiation and placental development to safeguard embryonic heart formation.

Sign up to Development’s email alerts (such as table of contents alerts) and the journal’s newsletter, to keep up to date on news, including special issues, calls for papers, content highlights/updates, journal meetings and more.

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What do we mean by ‘mechanism’ anyway?

Posted by , on 21 January 2025

The latest issue of Development (vol 152 issue 2) features a Perspective article by Duygu Özpolat, Swathi Arur (one of Development’s Academic Editors), and Mansi Srivastava (currently serving as a Guest Editor for the journal). The piece represents their views and is not intended as a formal position statement of the journal, but much of what they write resonates strongly with my own opinions and with discussions I’ve had with the editors of the journal over the years.

Back when I was growing up as a developmental biologist, the tables of contents of journals like Development were full of papers with some variation on the title “Gene/protein X controls process Y in organ/organism Z”. Indeed, my first ever paper (proudly published in Development) essentially conforms to this formula. And getting those papers published in ‘top’ journals at that time (and since!) generally meant understanding that ‘control’ at a molecular level – what other genes or proteins does X interact with or regulate? This approach has been hugely important for our field, and we’ve made enormous progress in understanding the logic of developmental processes through delving into molecular mechanisms. But it’s not the only approach or level of understanding at which we can gain profound insights. As someone who’s always been interested in cellular and tissue-level behaviours, I’ve often felt this focus to be too narrow. Indeed, one of my mantras since joining the journal has been that “mechanistic understanding doesn’t necessarily mean molecular mechanistic understanding”. (The other, incidentally, is that “development doesn’t stop at birth” – which is why I’m personally delighted by our current special issue topic!).

It’s notable that, in the latest iteration of the journal’s Aims and scope, we actually removed the words ‘mechanism’ and ‘mechanistic’ from our description of the kinds of papers we seek to publish. That’s not to say we’re not interested in mechanistic work – of course we are! – it’s that we recognise that ‘mechanism’ is all-too-often conceived as being at the molecular/genetic level. Particularly with advances in 4D imaging and in measuring and manipulating forces, we can now gain significant insights into how developmental processes are orchestrated by studying cellular behaviours and without really worrying about what molecules are involved and we’d like those papers to find their natural home in Development. We also need to acknowledge the importance of foundational descriptive work, without which those interested in understanding ‘mechanism’ couldn’t even start their research.

Survey answers to the questions A “In your area of work, what is the most common interpretation of the term ‘mechanism’ as applied to research questions?” and B “When you assess work in your field, what do you look for in terms of a mechanistic understanding of development?”. Taken from Özpolat et al., 2025. The reversal in size of the words ‘Gene’ and ‘Cell’ in the two word clouds exemplifies the mismatch between common perception and personal views.

So, if you’re a referee reviewing a paper for Development (or, frankly, anywhere else!), I’d urge you to avoid asking yourself “does this paper provide new (molecular) mechanistic insights?” and instead to ask “how valuable are these findings for the field?”. I don’t think I can put it better than Duygu, Swathi and Mansi do in their article: “question reductionism, be open-minded about the approach used and the level of mechanism under study, and consider each study relative to what is already known in that system, assessing the potential of the work to advance knowledge”.

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Categories: Discussion

The Marseille Developmental Biology Institute (IBDM) is recruiting group leaders

Posted by , on 20 January 2025

The Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM) is inviting applications for group leader positions. We are seeking innovative researchers who aim to address fundamental questions in biology, including the development, function, and dynamics of complex biological systems.

Our Mission

Research at the IBDM synergistically integrates developmental biology with molecular, cell, and computational biology, as well as evolution, biophysics, neurobiology, physiology, and physiopathology. Affiliated with CNRS and Aix-Marseille University (AMU), the IBDM uniquely fosters interdisciplinarity through strong connections with physicists, computational scientists, and mathematicians (via the CENTURI program). The institute also contributes to major federative programs at AMU, tackling key challenges in Neuroscience, Cancer and Immunology, Rare Diseases, and Imaging.

Our collaborative and international scientific culture, English as the working language, and exceptional location on a campus in the heart of the Calanques National Park make the IBDM a unique place to conduct world-class research.

What We Offer

  • A generous start-up package.
  • Access to state-of-the-art core facilities, including advanced light and electron microscopy and top-tier animal facilities (mouse, DrosophilaXenopus).
  • A commitment to mentoring, with support to secure a tenured position (CNRS or AMU) and extramural funding (ATIP/Avenir, ERC, FRM, etc.).
  • A strong emphasis on equality, diversity, and inclusivity in our working environment.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit a single PDF file containing:

  • A cover letter outlining their motivation to join the IBDM.
  • A CV, including the date of PhD defense.
  • A summary of main research achievements (maximum 2 pages).
  • A detailed research project (maximum 5 pages).
  • Contact details for three references.

Applications and queries should be sent to the search committee at ibdm-call@univ-amu.fr.

Application Deadline: March 30, 2025

Selected candidates will be invited for in-person interviews scheduled for June 2025.

Join Us!

Be part of a dynamic research community, advancing knowledge at the frontiers of biology in one of the most inspiring environments in the world. Apply today and help shape the future of science at the IBDM!

POSTER CALL IN PDF

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Categories: Careers