Developmental Biology

Spatiotemporal WNT and BMP gradients orchestrate regional enteroendocrine cell diversity along the Drosophila midgut

1. Jiaying Lv
2. Xingting Guo
3. Rongwen Xi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study is a comprehensive investigation into the regulatory mechanisms and regional distribution of enteroendocrine cell subtypes in the Drosophila midgut, significantly advancing the understanding of how WNT and BMP gradients contribute to EE diversity. The methodological foundation and robust genetic evidence are solid in supporting the key roles of compartment boundary signals, particularly WNT and BMP, in specifying EE subtypes and division modes. However, there is a lack of full mechanistic insight regarding Notch pathway involvement, incomplete quantification of phenotype data, and insufficient global pattern analysis, which detracts from fully supporting some proposed models. Overall, the study provides a platform for future work but would benefit from stronger data integration and expanded mechanistic exploration.

Reviewed by eLife

Deep learning predicts tissue outcomes in retinal organoids

1. Cassian Afting
2. Norin Bhatti
3. Christina Schlagheck
4. Encarnación Sánchez Salvador
5. Laura Herrera-Astorga
6. Rashi Agarwal
7. Risa Suzuki
8. Nicolaj Hackert
9. Hanns-Martin Lorenz
10. Lucie Zilova
11. Joachim Wittbrodt
12. Tarik Exner

Reviewed by Review Commons

Life-cycle-related gene expression patterns in the brown algae

1. Pélagie Ratchinski
2. Olivier Godfroy
3. Benjamin Noel
4. Jean-Marc Aury
5. J Mark Cock

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript presents an in-depth analysis of gene expression across multiple brown algal species with differing life histories, providing convincing evidence for the conservation of life cycle-specific gene expression. While largely descriptive, the study is an important step forward in understanding the core cellular processes that differ between life cycle phases, and its findings will be of broad interest to developmental and evolutionary biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Lineage domains and cytoskeletal cables organize a cellular square grid in a crustacean

1. Beatrice L. Steinert
2. Leo Blondel
3. Chandrashekar Kuyyamudi
4. Evangelia Stamataki
5. Anastasios Pavlopoulos
6. Cassandra G. Extavour

Reviewed by preLights

Chronic replication stress-mediated genomic instability disrupts placenta development in mice

1. Mumingjiang Munisha
2. Rui Huang
3. Jordan Khan
4. John C. Schimenti

Reviewed by Review Commons

A tissue boundary orchestrates the segregation of inner ear sensory organs

1. Ziqi Chen
2. Magdalena Żak
3. Shuting Xu
4. Javier de Andrés
5. Nicolas Daudet

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important study describing the morphological changes during boundary formation between sensory and non-sensory tissues of the inner ear. The authors provided solid evidence that a transcription factor, Lmx1a and ROCK-dependent actinomyosin are key for border formation in the inner ear. However, future studies will be needed to investigate the direct relationships among boundary formation, Lmx1a and ROCK. This work will be of interest to developmental biologists interested in boundary formation.

Reviewed by eLife

Inverted Assembly of the Lens Within Ocular Organoids Reveals Alternate Paths to Ocular Morphogenesis

1. Elin Stahl
2. Miguel Angel Delgado-Toscano
3. Ishwariya Saravanan
4. Anastasija Paneva
5. Joachim Wittbrodt
6. Lucie Zilova

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study demonstrates that ocular organoids can generate both retina and lens through a non-canonical, "inside-out" morphogenetic route. The work is solid, with well-designed experiments combining imaging, molecular analyses, and transcriptomics to establish that lens formation in organoids follows conserved molecular programs despite an alternative morphogenesis. These findings expand our understanding of self-organization and developmental plasticity, and will be of broad interest to researchers working on eye development, organoids, and tissue engineering.

  [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

Reviewed by eLife, Review Commons

miR-184 modulates dilp8 to control developmental timing during normal growth conditions and in response to developmental perturbations

1. Jervis Fernandes
2. Muhammed Naseem
3. Ayisha Marwa MP
4. Jishy Varghese

Reviewed by Review Commons

Prickle and Ror modulate Dishevelled-Vangl interaction to regulate non-canonical Wnt signaling during convergent extension

1. Hwa-seon Seo
2. Deli Yu
3. Ivan Popov
4. Jiahui Tao
5. Allyson Angermeier
6. Fei Yang
7. Sylvie Marchetto
8. Jean-Paul Borg
9. Bingdong Sha
10. Jeffrey D Axelrod
11. Chenbei Chang
12. Jianbo Wang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study addresses mechanisms of feedback inhibition between planar cell polarity protein complexes during convergent extension movements in Xenopus embryos. The authors propose a conceptually new model, in which non-canonical Wnt ligand stimulates transition of Dishevelled from its complex with Vangl to Frizzled, with essential roles of Prickle and Ror in this process. The main observations supporting molecular interactions are interesting and convincing but do not directly assess convergent extension, and the immunoprecipitations carried out with overexpressed proteins show subtle effects. With the analysis of cell intercalations supporting the main conclusions, this work would be significant and of broad interest to cell and developmental biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Nup107 is a crucial regulator of torso-mediated metamorphic transition in Drosophila melanogaster

1. Jyotsna Kawadkar
2. Pradyumna Ajit Joshi
3. Ram Kumar Mishra

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study presents findings on the developmental roles of Nup107, a key nucleoporin, in regulating the larval-to-pupal transition in Drosophila melanogaster through its involvement in ecdysone signaling. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is solid, with robust experimental approaches including RNAi knockdown and rescue experiments. The authors propose that Nup107 influences EcR localization indirectly by reducing the expression of Halloween genes, a consequence of impaired Torso signaling. However, it remains uncertain whether Torso is the sole receptor tyrosine kinase involved, and this disruption ultimately leads to decreased ecdysone production. In addition, finding a mechanism would strengthen the findings as the currently proposed mechanism is not completely supported by the data.

Reviewed by eLife