Article
Cell Biology
Kelli D. D. Fenelon, Fan Gao, Priyanshi Borad, Shiva Abbasi, Lior Pachter, Theodora Koromila
Summary: During development, a core network of transcription factors including Zelda/POU5F1, Odd-paired (Opa)/ZIC3 and Ocelliless (Oc)/OTX2 play important roles in directing pluripotent cells to differentiate into various cell types and tissues. It is hypothesized that Opa and Oc interact with distinct cis-regulatory regions to shape cell fates in the embryonic head.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Marissa M. Gaskill, Tyler J. Gibson, Elizabeth D. Larson, Melissa M. Harrison
Summary: In Drosophila, besides Zelda, another pioneer factor GAF plays a crucial role in development during the maternal-to-zygotic transition. By activating widespread zygotic transcription and remodeling the chromatin accessibility landscape, GAF and Zelda together drive the development through this critical period.
Article
Developmental Biology
Hyung Chul Lee, Cato Hastings, Claudio D. Stern
Summary: Classical studies have shown that the extra-embryonic tissues in chicks, specifically the marginal zone, play a crucial role in establishing embryonic polarity. The outer region, previously thought to have only nutritive and support functions, was found to have three distinct functions: inducing a posterior marginal zone, influencing the polarity of the adjacent marginal zone, and rescuing the ability to regulate polarity in early embryos.
Article
Biophysics
Sameer Thukral, Bivash Kaity, Debasmita Mitra, Bipasha Dey, Pampa Dey, Bhavin Uttekar, Mithun K. Mitra, Amitabha Nandi, Richa Rikhy
Summary: This study investigates the role of plasma membrane in regulating the spread of membrane-associated molecules in syncytial cells. The researchers find that the distribution and length scale of molecules are determined by plasma membrane sequestration and restriction within an energid. Loss of plasma membrane remodeling leads to increased spread of certain molecules. This analysis has implications for understanding the spread of various molecules in syncytial cells.
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Developmental Biology
Marlis Denk-Lobnig, Jan F. Totz, Natalie C. Heer, Jorn Dunkel, Adam C. Martin
Summary: The study shows that transcription factors Twist and Snail regulate a multicellular pattern of F-actin density, influencing cell shape changes and tissue bending. The width of the Myosin-2 gradient depends on a gradient in RhoA activation, refined through the balance between RhoGEF2 and RhoGAP C-GAP.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pedro Prudencio, Rosina Savisaar, Kenny Rebelo, Rui Goncalo Martinho, Maria Carmo-Fonseca
Summary: This study used NET-seq technology to measure the cotranscriptional splicing dynamics during the early developmental stages of Drosophila embryos. The results revealed the position of RNA polymerase II during splicing and found heterogeneity in splicing dynamics. The study also observed the relationship between intron size and spliced reads, as well as the differences in gene transcription patterns between early and later embryonic development.
Article
Developmental Biology
Daisy J. Vinter, Caroline Hoppe, Thomas G. Minchington, Catherine Sutcliffe, Hilary L. Ashe
Summary: The study found translational repression of zygotic hb mRNA in Drosophila embryos, with initially uniform translation proportions decreasing over time and becoming restricted to the posterior band in the expression domain. This demonstrates how the SunTag method is a powerful tool for elucidating spatiotemporal regulation of mRNA translation in Drosophila.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jeremy A. Owen, Jordan M. Horowitz
Summary: Living organisms benefit from molecular sensitivity in key processes like DNA replication and chemical sensing. A simple structural quantity, the size of perturbation support, limits the sensitivity of biological processes, whether at or away from thermodynamic equilibrium. A novel non-equilibrium binding mechanism, nested hysteresis, with exponential sensitivity relative to the number of binding sites, has been discovered.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Developmental Biology
Nadia Rostam, Alexander Goloborodko, Stephan Riemer, Andres Hertel, Dietmar Riedel, Gerd Vorbruggen, Roland Dosch
Summary: The zebrafish germline is specified by germ plasm, and the molecular mechanism of germ plasm localization in vertebrates is largely unknown. This study found that the localization of germ plasm in zebrafish is similar to that in Xenopus and distinct from Drosophila. Non muscle myosin II (NMII) and tight junction (TJ) components, such as ZO2 and claudin-d (Cldn-d), were identified as potential interaction candidates of the germ plasm organizer Bucky ball (Buc). Furthermore, TJ protein ZO1 co-localized with germ plasm, and TJ-like structures were observed at cleavage furrows where the germ plasm is anchored. Injection of the TJ receptor Cldn-d led to the formation of extra germ plasm aggregates, while expression of a dominant-negative version inhibited germ plasm formation. These findings provide the first evidence for the role of TJs in germ plasm localization.
Article
Developmental Biology
Min Tang, Isabel Regadas, Sergey Belikov, Olga Shilkova, Lei Xu, Erik Wernersson, Xuewen Liu, Hongmei Wu, Magda Bienko, Mattias Mannervik
Summary: In this study, the crucial functions of HDAC3 in embryo development were investigated in Drosophila. The findings demonstrate that HDAC3 is involved in both gene activation and repression, and that lysine substitution in the N terminus disrupts its catalytic activity and activator function, while a combination of substitutions enhances its repressor activity.
Article
Biology
Zongjun Yin, Weichen Sun, Pengju Liu, Junyuan Chen, David J. Bottjer, Jinhua Li, Maoyan Zhu
Summary: The origin and early evolution of animal development is a deep, unresolved problem in evolutionary biology. Research has shown that the Ediacaran embryo-like fossils from the Weng'an Biota in South China have the potential to shed light on this issue. However, the correct establishment of their phylogenetic positions remains a key problem, limiting our understanding of their biological implications.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Zarion D. Marshall, Ellie S. Heckscher
Summary: Proper assembly of somatosensory circuits is crucial for processing somatosensory stimuli and responding accordingly. However, the understanding of somatosensory circuit development is lagging behind that of other sensory systems. In this study, the researchers examined a specific type of somatosensory interneuron in fruit fly larvae and found that the transcription factor Even-skipped (Eve) plays multiple roles in neuron morphogenesis and the encoding of somatosensory stimuli. The findings shed light on the genetic regulation of somatosensory circuit assembly.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Amit Jangid, Suriya Selvarajan, Ram Ramaswamy
Summary: By studying a population-based cellular model, it is found that nucleus position and noise play crucial roles in determining stem cell genealogies, leading to symmetric or asymmetric divisions based on different nucleus positions. The simulation results show a decrease in the number of clones over time, while the average clone size increases, which is consistent with experimental results.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jun I. Park, George W. Bell, Yukiko M. Yamashita
Summary: The nucleolar protein modulo regulates the histone-to-protamine transition during Drosophila spermatogenesis. Mutants lacking modulo display nuclear compaction defects due to decreased expression of autosomal protamine genes and derepression of dominant-negative Y-linked Mst77Fhomologs. Modulo regulates these protamine genes at the step of transcript polyadenylation.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Vera A. van der Weijden, Meret Schmidhauser, Mayuko Kurome, Johannes Knubben, Veronika L. Floter, Eckhard Wolf, Susanne E. Ulbrich
Summary: Our study found that in vivo developed and in vitro produced embryos show similar transcriptome profiles during development. Shared canonical pathways in transitions from 4-cell to morula included oxidative phosphorylation and EIF2 signaling, while shared pathways from morula to hatched blastocyst included 14-3-3-mediated signaling, xenobiotic metabolism general signaling pathway, and NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response. Hatched blastocysts from in vitro fertilization-pipeline exhibited molecular pathways associated with lower developmental competence compared to in vivo developed embryos.