Developmental Biology

Junctional Heterogeneity Shapes Epithelial Morphospace

1. Anubhav Prakash
2. Raman Kaushik
3. Nishant Singh
4. Ankita Walvekar
5. Sradha Saji
6. Raj K Ladher

Reviewed by preLights

Genetic and physical interactions reveal overlapping and distinct contributions to meiotic double-strand break formation in C. elegans

1. Marilina Raices
2. Fabiola Balmir
3. Nicola Silva
4. Wei Li
5. McKenzie K Grundy
6. Dane K Hoffman
7. Elisabeth Altendorfer
8. Carlos Jaime Camacho
9. Kara A Bernstein
10. Monica P Colaiácovo
11. Judith L Yanowitz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study combines genetic, cell biological, and interaction data to propose a model of meiotic double-strand break regulation in C. elegans. Solid evidence supports the main conclusions, while by nature of a screening-type study, more may be needed to solidify speculations in future studies. Yet, comprehensive cataloging of the physical and genetic interactions of factors required for meiotic double-strand break is useful information for the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Dorsoventral-mediated Shh induction is required for axolotl limb regeneration

1. Sakiya Yamamoto
2. Saya Furukawa
3. Ayaka Ohashi
4. Mayuko Hamada
5. Akira Satoh

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental work by Yamamoto and colleagues advances our understanding of how positional information is coordinated between axes during limb outgrowth and patterning. They provide convincing evidence that the dorsal-ventral axis feeds into anterior-posterior signaling, and identify the responsible molecules by combining transplantations with molecular manipulations. This work will be of broad interest to regeneration, tissue engineering, and evolutionary biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

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

1. Gonzalo N Morales Chaya
2. Mubarak Hussain Syed

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful manuscript reports findings indicating that cell cycle progression and cytokinesis both contribute to the transition from early to late neural stem cell fates. Although orthogonal approaches would help confirm the findings, which are based on loss-of-function, the experimental evidence is convincing. Lastly, an investigation of the underlying mechanisms linking the cell cycle to temporal factor expression is still needed.

Reviewed by eLife

LGL-1 and the RhoGAP protein PAC-1 redundantly control polarization of the C. elegans embryonic epidermal epithelium

1. Olga D. Jarosińska
2. Amalia Riga
3. Hala Zahreddine Fahs
4. Joren M. Woeltjes
5. Ruben Schmidt
6. Fathima S. Refai
7. Suma Gopinadhan
8. Kristin C. Gunsalus
9. Mike Boxem

Reviewed by Review Commons

ATAD2 mediates chromatin-bound histone chaperone turnover

1. Ariadni Liakopoulou
2. Fayçal Boussouar
3. Daniel Perazza
4. Sophie Barral
5. Emeline Lambert
6. Tao Wang
7. Florent Chuffart
8. Ekaterina Bourova-Flin
9. Charlyne Gard
10. Denis Puthier
11. Sophie Rousseaux
12. Christophe Arnoult
13. André Verdel
14. Saadi Khochbin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study explores the role of the chromatin regulator ATAD2 in mouse spermatogenesis. The data convincingly demonstrate that ATAD2 is essential for proper chromatin remodeling in haploid spermatids, influencing gene accessibility, H3.3-mediated transcription, and histone eviction. Using Atad2 knockout (KO) mice, the authors link ATAD2 to the DNA-replication-independent incorporation of sperm-specific proteins like protamines and histone H3.3. Although the findings highlight chromatin abnormalities and impaired in vitro fertilization in KO mice, natural fertility remains unaffected, suggesting possible in vivo compensatory mechanisms. Future experiments will be needed to tease out the precise molecular role of ATAD2 in spermatogenesis. This work will be of interest to the epigenetics and developmental fields.

Reviewed by eLife

Rtf1-dependent transcriptional pausing regulates cardiogenesis

1. Adam D. Langenbacher
2. Fei Lu
3. Luna Tsang
4. Zi Yi Stephanie Huang
5. Benjamin Keer
6. Zhiyu Tian
7. Alette Eide
8. Matteo Pellegrini
9. Haruko Nakano
10. Atsushi Nakano
11. Jau-Nian Chen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study shows that a controlled pause in gene reading is required for early heart cells to form during development. The authors demonstrate that loss of this pause prevents the proper activation of the heart-producing program across animal and stem cell systems. The evidence is compelling, supported by careful genomic and functional analyses that clearly define the developmental block. Overall, this work will interest developmental biologists and inspire further studies on the origins of early heart defects.

Reviewed by eLife

Developmental analysis of the cone photoreceptor-less little skate retina

1. Chetan C. Rangachar
2. Denice D. Moran
3. Mark M. Emerson

Reviewed by PREreview

Unravelling the progression of the zebrafish primary body axis with reconstructed spatiotemporal transcriptomics

1. Yang Dong
2. Tao Cheng
3. Xiang Liu
4. Xin-Xin Fu
5. Yang Hu
6. Xian-Fa Yang
7. Ling-En Yang
8. Hao-Ran Li
9. Zhi-Wen Bian
10. Naihe Jing
11. Jie Liao
12. Xiaohui Fan
13. Peng-Fei Xu

Reviewed by Review Commons

Hic2 fast-tracks iPS cell generation by suppressing KLF4-dependent epidermal detour

1. Meryam Beniazza
2. Masahito Yoshihara
3. Daniel F Kaemena
4. James Ashmore
5. Suling Zhao
6. Michael O’Dwyer
7. Emil Andersson
8. Victor Olariu
9. Shintaro Katayama
10. Abdenour Soufi
11. Kosuke Yusa
12. Keisuke Kaji

Reviewed by Review Commons