Developmental Biology

Arrayed single-gene perturbations identify drivers of human anterior neural tube closure

1. Roya E Huang
2. Giridhar M Anand
3. Heitor C Megale
4. Jason Chen
5. Chudi Abraham-Igwe
6. Sharad Ramanathan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study is a fundamental advance in the field of developmental biology and transcriptional regulation that demonstrates the use of hPSC-derived organoids to generate reproducible organoids to study the mechanisms that drive neural tube closure. The work is exceptional in its development of tools to use CRISPR interference to screen for genes that regulate morphogenesis in human PSC organoids. The additional characterization of the role of specific transcription factors in neural tube formation is solid. The work provides both technical advances and new knowledge on human development through embryo models.

Reviewed by eLife

Immune–tracheal intercellular signalling coordinates the muscle injury response in Drosophila

1. Nourhene Ammar
2. Olivier Josse
3. Aurélien Guillou
4. Jessica Perochon
5. Hadi Boukhatmi

Reviewed by preLights

Trpv4 mediates temperature induced sex change in ricefield eel

1. Zhi Yang
2. Tingting Luo
3. Yimin Zhang
4. Yuhua Sun

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents useful findings on the molecular mechanisms driving female-to-male sex reversal in the ricefield eel (Monopterus albus) during aging, which would be of interest to biologists studying sex determination. The manuscript describes an interesting mechanism potentially underlying sex differentiation in M. albus. However, the current data are incomplete and would benefit from more rigorous experimental approaches.

Reviewed by eLife

Spectraplakin cooperates with noncentrosomal microtubule regulators to orient dendritic microtubules in Drosophila

1. Matthew Davies
2. Neeraja Sanal
3. Neele Wolterhoff
4. Ulrike Gigengack
5. Yitao Shen
6. Ines Hahn
7. Sebastian Rumpf

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Davies et al. present a valuable study proposing that Shot can act as a molecular linker between microtubules and actin during dendrite pruning, suggesting an intriguing role in non-centrosomal microtubule organization. However, the experimental evidence is incomplete and does not robustly support these claims, and the lack of a cohesive model connecting the findings weakens the overall impact. While the data suggest that Shot, actin, and microtubule nucleation contribute to dendritic pruning, their precise interplay remains unresolved.

Reviewed by eLife

Cross-species insemination reveals mouse sperm ability to enter and cross the fish micropyle

1. Suma Garibova
2. Eva Stickler
3. Fatima Al Ali
4. Maha A Abdulla
5. Abbirami Sathappan
6. Sahar Da’as
7. Lilian Ghanem
8. M Nadhir Djekidel
9. Rick Portman
10. Matteo A Avella

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study reports the conservation of sperm-egg envelope binding by demonstrating successful recognition of the micropyle in fish eggs by mouse sperm. The evidence supporting the conclusions drawn is convincing. This study will be of interest to reproductive biologists and clinicians studying the biology of fertilization and fertility.

Reviewed by eLife

Actin cytoskeletal deregulation, caused by RhoGEF2 overexpression, induces cell competition dependent on Ptp10D, Crumbs, and the Hippo signaling pathway

1. Natasha Fahey-Lozano
2. Marta Portela
3. John E. La Marca
4. Helena E. Richardson

Reviewed by Review Commons

Gene regulatory dynamics during craniofacial development in a carnivorous marsupial

1. Laura E Cook
2. Charles Y Feigin
3. John D Hills
4. Davide M Vespasiani
5. Andrew J Pask
6. Irene Gallego Romero

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study of regulatory elements and gene expression in the craniofacial region of the fat-tailed dunnart shows that, compared to placental mammals, marsupial craniofacial tissue develops in a precocious manner, with enhancer regulatory elements as primary driver of this difference. The compelling data, including a new dunnart genome assembly, provide an invaluable reference for future mammalian evolution studies, especially once additional developmental time point for the fat-tailed dunnart become available.

Reviewed by eLife

Asynchronous mouse embryo polarization leads to heterogeneity in cell fate specification

1. Adiyant Lamba
2. Meng Zhu
3. Maciej Meglicki
4. Sylwia Czukiewska
5. Lakshmi Balasubramaniam
6. Ron Hadas
7. Nina Weishaupt
8. Ekta M Patel
9. Yu Hua Kavanagh
10. Ran Wang
11. Naihe Jing
12. Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental work substantially advances our understanding of the molecular basis by which early symmetry breaking events connect to the following cell fate specifications in preimplantation mammalian embryos. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, with advanced image based assays and microinjection based functional tests. The work will be of broad interest to cell and developmental biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Dissecting infant leukemia developmental origins with a hemogenic gastruloid model

1. Denise Ragusa
2. Chun Wai Suen
3. Gabriel Torregrosa Cortes
4. Fabio Pastorino
5. Ayona Johns
6. Ylenia Cicirò
7. Liza Dijkhuis
8. Susanne van den Brink
9. Michele Cilli
10. Connor Byrne
11. Giulia-Andreea Ionescu
12. Joana Cerveira
13. Kamil R Kranc
14. Victor Hernandez-Hernandez
15. Mirco Ponzoni
16. Anna Bigas
17. Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo
18. Alfonso Martínez Arias
19. Cristina Pina

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study presents a mouse gastruloid system to generate successive waves of hematopoietic progenitors that in vivo would emerge during embryonic development. Although this newly revised manuscript has addressed some of the concerns raised during the first round of review, the study is still considered incomplete, as the claims are only partially supported. In particular, the claim of definitive wave hematopoietic progenitors being produced in the gastruloids, and their engraftment after transplantation, would benefit from further validation.

Reviewed by eLife

Comprehensive profiling of migratory primordial germ cells reveals niche-specific differences in non-canonical Wnt and Nodal-Lefty signaling in anterior vs posterior migrants

1. Rebecca G Jaszczak
2. Jay W Zussman
3. Daniel E Wagner
4. Diana J Laird

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This revised study provides fundamental insights into the differences in migratory primordial germ cells based on their anterior or posterior location. Through convincing methodology and analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing of an exceptionally large number of migratory primordial germ cells and surrounding somatic cells, the novel findings and datasets generated from this study provide many hypotheses of interest to germ cell biologists.

Reviewed by eLife