Developmental biology最新文献

{"title":"Discrete 3′ UTR sequence motifs regulate nanos RNA enrichment in Drosophila germ granules","authors":"Kira Mitchel ,&nbsp;Elizabeth R. Gavis","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.03.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.03.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Germ granules are ribonucleoprotein condensates that concentrate key maternal mRNAs needed for germ cell development. In <em>Drosophila</em>, <em>nanos</em> mRNA is selectively enriched in germ granules but the specific <em>cis</em>-acting elements mediating this process remain poorly defined. Here, we identify discrete sequence motifs in the <em>nanos</em> 3′ UTR that regulate <em>nanos</em> enrichment specifically by promoting the growth of homotypic <em>nanos</em> mRNA clusters within granules, without affecting the initial targeting of <em>nanos</em> to germ granules. These sequence motifs are binding sites for the hnRNP M homolog Rumpelstiltskin (Rump) and mutation of Rump binding sites or Rump attenuates <em>nanos</em> homotypic cluster growth, reducing the amount of <em>nanos</em> inherited by germ cells. Consequently, germ cells exhibit defective migration to the gonad. Together, our findings reveal how small repeated sequence motifs and cognate RNA-binding proteins can tune enrichment of germ granule mRNAs by driving self-assembly into large RNA clusters. This strategy ensures sufficient inheritance of mRNAs to support germ cell development and may represent a general mechanism by which RNP condensates regulate transcript dosage.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"534 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147462730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The roles of TGFβ and serotonin signaling in regulation of germline progenitors in adult C. elegans hermaphrodites revealed by the effects of a male pheromone","authors":"Erin Z. Aprison ,&nbsp;Svetlana Dzitoyeva ,&nbsp;Ilya Ruvinsky","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.03.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.03.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Some developmental processes initiated in embryos or larvae persist into adulthood, a prominent example being maintenance of stem cells. To what extent are the mechanisms regulating these cell populations similar during different stages of life history? We have been studying how adult <em>C. elegans</em> hermaphrodites regulate the population of germline progenitor cells in response to the male pheromone ascr#10. Here we show that upon encountering ascr#10 adult hermaphrodites increase this cell population using mechanisms that are similar to but distinct from those previously revealed to be involved in the expansion of the germline in larvae. The core of the signaling axis in adults, as in larvae, consists of a neuronally-expressed TGFβ ligand DAF-7 and Notch-like LAG-2 signaling from the germline stem cell niche. An adult-specific serotonin signal acts upstream of DAF-7 to increase the population of germline progenitors, but only in actively egg-laying worms. Our results also suggest that during normal aging, declining expression of <em>lag-2</em> and <em>daf-7</em> contribute to germline senescence. Expression of these genes in aging hermaphrodites could be restored to youthful levels by ascr#10 or by pharmacological increase of serotonin signaling. We posit that neuronal signals regulate an environmentally appropriate rate of germline production in adults and argue that one driver of reproductive aging is the reduced expression of neuronal factors that regulate the germline.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"534 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147462714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nodal-directed endodermal cell changes are preceded by differential cell proliferation in the mesenchyme to break symmetry in the Leucoraja erinacea spiral intestine","authors":"Nicole A. Theodosiou,&nbsp;Anyerys Diaz","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The left-right positioning of organs and subsequent formation of asymmetric organ shapes are vital for function and conserved in all vertebrates. Breaking symmetry is linked to Nodal-directed changes in endodermal cell behavior, but no evidence exists to date for differential cell proliferation in mesenchyme prior to asymmetry. Here we use the ancestral shape of the gut tube, the spiral valve intestine, as a model to study the evolution of how symmetry is broken. The spiral intestine is present in all basal fishes and is named after its shape; a short tube with an inner fold that rotates to create a spiral-shaped lumen. In the skate, Nodal signaling is necessary for initiating asymmetry by changes in cell behavior that lead to an expansion of the left endoderm wall. In contrast to previous studies, we also observe a significant increase in cell proliferation in left-sided mesenchymal cells prior to the break in symmetry. Thus, the skate spiral intestine is unique in combining evolutionary conserved mechanisms that change cell architecture with differential cell proliferation during initiation of gut organ morphogenesis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"531 ","pages":"Pages 10-18"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145846330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A morphometric characterization of early CHICK embryo elongation","authors":"A.C. Maia-Fernandes ,&nbsp;T. Pais de Azevedo ,&nbsp;N. Borralho-Martins ,&nbsp;S. Ramalhete ,&nbsp;G.G. Martins ,&nbsp;I. Palmeirim ,&nbsp;I. Duarte ,&nbsp;A. Marreiros ,&nbsp;P.J. Martel ,&nbsp;R.P. Andrade","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.022","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.022","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The chicken embryo has long been a pivotal model system to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms driving amniote embryo development. Its easy access for <em>in vivo</em> experimentation, together with the development of <em>ex ovo</em> culture techniques, has made it a choice model system for elaborate experimental manipulations. Temporal progression of chick embryo development is classically categorized using the Hamburger and Hamilton staging system (Hamburger, V., &amp; Hamilton, 1951). However, this offers limited temporal resolution when comparing embryos within the same developmental stage and may further be hindered by experimental conditions that directly impact the morphological structures used for stage identification. Here, we performed time-lapse imaging of early chick embryonic stages HH4 to HH10 and obtained quantitative elongation data of multiple embryonic portions, yielding two valuable and freely accessible data resources for the chick research community. We identified length measurements capable of describing developmental time, thus enabling the alignment of independent embryos with temporal resolution. Notably, the head-fold (C-HF) showed a strong time correlation, even though it elongates above the primary embryonic axis. A morphometric characterization of HH stages further showed that C-HF length can discriminate HH stages of development, albeit with limited resolution. Finally, we present <strong>ChEEQ</strong>: <strong>Ch</strong>icken <strong>E</strong>mbryo <strong>E</strong>longation <strong>Q</strong>uantification (<span><span>https://colab.research.google.com/github/EmbryoClock/ChickElong/blob/main/ChEEQ/ChEEQ.ipynb</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>), a new morphometric tool describing HH4-HH10 embryo elongation, that allows the comparison of user-input data with our reference dataset and is capable of inferring quantitative alterations to embryo developmental time using length measurements alone. Together, these resources open new avenues for investigating vertebrate embryo elongation and quantitatively assessing the effects of experimental interventions on development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"531 ","pages":"Pages 19-29"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145899163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gsx2 regulates oligodendrocyte precursor formation in the zebrafish spinal cord","authors":"Kimberly A. Arena,&nbsp;Christina A. Kearns,&nbsp;Mohamoud Ahmed,&nbsp;Rebecca O'Rourke,&nbsp;Charles G. Sagerström,&nbsp;Santos J. Franco,&nbsp;Bruce Appel","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.01.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.01.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nervous system development relies on sequential and coordinated formation of diverse neurons and glia from neural progenitor cells (NPCs). In the spinal cord, NPCs of the pMN domain produce neurons early in development followed by oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), which subsequently differentiate as oligodendrocytes (OLs), the myelinating glia of the central nervous system. The mechanisms that specify neural progenitor cells to the OL lineage are not yet well understood. Using zebrafish as an experimental model system, we generated single-cell RNA sequencing and single-nuclei ATAC sequencing data that identified a subpopulation of NPCs, called pre-OPCs, that appeared fated to produce OPCs. pre-OPCs uniquely express several genes that encode transcription factors specific to the OL lineage, including Gsx2, which regulates OPC formation in the mouse forebrain. To investigate Gsx2 function in zebrafish OPC specification, we used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to create <em>gsx2</em> loss-of-function alleles. <em>gsx2</em> homozygous mutant embryos initiated OPC formation prematurely and produced excess OPCs without altering OL differentiation. Using our single-nuclei multi-omics dataset, we predicted a gene regulatory network centered around <em>gsx2</em> and identified genes that might be transcriptionally regulated by Gsx2. Taken together, our studies suggest that Gsx2 expression in pre-OPCs contributes to the timing of OPC specification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"531 ","pages":"Pages 30-44"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145905608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolutionary conservation of midline axon guidance activity between Drosophila and Tribolium Frazzled","authors":"Piyasi Ghosh,&nbsp;Benjamin C. Wadsworth,&nbsp;Logan Terry,&nbsp;Timothy A. Evans","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The regulation of midline crossing of axons is of fundamental importance for the proper development of nervous system connectivity in bilaterian animals. A number of conserved axon guidance signaling pathways coordinate to attract or repel axons at the nervous system midline to ensure the proper regulation of midline crossing. The attractive Netrin-Frazzled/DCC (Net-Fra) signaling pathway is widely conserved among bilaterians, but it is not clear whether the mechanisms by which Net and Fra promote midline crossing are also conserved. In <em>Drosophila,</em> Fra can promote midline crossing via Netrin-dependent and Netrin-independent mechanisms, by acting as a canonical midline attractive receptor and also through a non-canonical pathway to inhibit midline repulsion via transcriptional regulation. To examine the conservation of Fra-dependent axon guidance mechanisms among insects, in this paper we compare the midline attractive roles of the Frazzled receptor in the fruit fly (<em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>) and flour beetle (<em>Tribolium castaneum</em>) using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing. We replace the <em>Drosophila fra</em> gene with sequences encoding <em>Drosophila</em> Fra (DmFra) or <em>Tribolium</em> Fra (TcFra) and examine midline crossing of axons in the ventral nerve cord of embryos carrying these modified alleles. We show that <em>Tribolium</em> Fra can fully substitute for <em>Drosophila</em> Fra to promote midline crossing of axons in the embryonic nervous system, suggesting that the mechanisms by which Frazzled regulates midline axon guidance are evolutionarily conserved within insects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"531 ","pages":"Pages 1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145814187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors function with adhesion molecule SAX-7 to reverse cell orientation during migration","authors":"Joana Antonio ,&nbsp;Elizabeth Strang ,&nbsp;Rom David L. Arca ,&nbsp;Matthew H. Sazinsky ,&nbsp;Sarah Hasel-Kolossa ,&nbsp;Abigail Wiesenthal ,&nbsp;Jose Francisco Carranza Celis ,&nbsp;Trisha Gongalore ,&nbsp;Sagun Bhandari ,&nbsp;Sadia Yeasmin ,&nbsp;Mihoko Kato","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cell migration is an important process underlying animal embryonic body patterning, organogenesis, and diseases like metastatic cancer. Acetylcholine (ACh) signaling plays a key role in the migration of various cell types and cancer cells, yet <em>in vivo</em> studies are lacking. We investigated the function of nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs) on the migration of a gonadal leader cell, the linker cell (LC). During <em>C. elegans</em> male gonadogenesis, the LC migrates posteriorly along the ventral body wall, following a path that runs parallel and adjacent to the ACh-releasing ventral nerve cord (VNC). Excess ACh reoriented the polarity of the LC from posterior-facing to anterior-facing through an intermediate stage of facing the ventral body wall. nAChRs, which are expressed by both the VNC and LC, were required for the LC reversal response. The specific combination of subunits of the pentameric nAChR produced different reversal responses, with <em>acr-16(−)</em> and <em>lgc-9</em>(−) mutants inhibiting and <em>acr-15</em>(−) promoting reversals. LC reversal in response to excess ACh also required the L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM), SAX-7, which is expressed by both VNC and LC. We propose that an increase in ACh signaling in the VNC and LC promotes stronger SAX-7 mediated adhesion of the LC to the ventral body wall, causing the LC to change directions from posterior to ventral facing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"531 ","pages":"Pages 45-55"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145476675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Outside Back Cover - Graphical abstract TOC/TOC in double column/Cover image legend if applicable, Bar code, Abstracting and Indexing information","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S0012-1606(26)00022-9","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S0012-1606(26)00022-9","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"531 ","pages":"Page OBC"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146034427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Associations of genetic variants in the PPARD gene to racing performance in pigeons (Columba livia)","authors":"Monika Stefaniuk-Szmukier ,&nbsp;Weronika Klecel ,&nbsp;Tomasz Szmatoła ,&nbsp;Katarzyna Ropka-Molik","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.12.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although pigeon racing is primarily a hobby, a niche market exists where elite birds with outstanding sports results may reach values of thousands of euros. The presented study aimed to evaluate single-nucleotide polymorphisms located within the coding sequence of the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Delta gene as potential marker candidates for race performance traits in sports pigeons. Our results confirmed the occurrence of two missense variants, c.79G &gt; A (p.Gly27Arg); c.142 T &gt; G (p.Ser48Ala); and one within the 3′UTR region - c.∗271C &gt; T. Statistical analysis showed a significant association at the c.∗271C &gt; T locus according to speed and trend for the coefficient. Preliminary results suggest a novel candidate gene for racing performance in sport pigeons.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"530 ","pages":"Pages 260-264"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145809937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Outside Back Cover - Graphical abstract TOC/TOC in double column/Cover image legend if applicable, Bar code, Abstracting and Indexing information","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S0012-1606(25)00359-8","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S0012-1606(25)00359-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"530 ","pages":"Page OBC"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145880305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}