Embryology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lineage segregation from conception to gastrulation has been mapped at the single cell level in mouse, human and monkey. Here, the authors provide a comprehensive analysis of porcine preimplantation development using single cell RNA-seq; mapping metabolic changes, X chromosome inactivation and signalling pathways.

    • Priscila Ramos-Ibeas
    • , Fei Sang
    •  & Ramiro Alberio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In vitro culture has detrimental effects on transcriptomes and epigenetic programming of zygotes. Here the authors use microfluidic technology to co-culture bovine oviduct epithelial cells with zygotes and show that the transcriptomes and global methylation patterns of these zygotes are more similar to in vivo zygotes than to conventionally cultured zygotes.

    • Marcia A. M. M. Ferraz
    • , Hoon Suk Rho
    •  & Bart M. Gadella

  • Article
    | Open Access

    REX1 has been shown to regulate pluripotency of ESCs, genomic imprinting and preimplantation development in mice. Here the authors provide evidence that REX1 is the prime target of RNF12 E3 ubiquitin ligase and that Rex1 removal rescues the Rnf12 knockout phenotype in imprinted X chromosome inactivation in mice.

    • Cristina Gontan
    • , Hegias Mira-Bontenbal
    •  & Joost Gribnau

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transcription factor SOX17 is important for uterine gland formation, fertility, and embryo implantation in mouse. Here the authors show that SOX17 is upstream of Indian hedgehog to regulate mouse uterine receptivity, and their analysis of uterine tissue from endometriosis patients suggests the same function in humans.

    • Xiaoqiu Wang
    • , Xilong Li
    •  & Francesco J. DeMayo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although Ftx lncRNA has been linked to X-chromosome inactivation, its physiological roles in vivo remain unclear. Here the authors show that deletion of mouse Ftx causes eye abnormalities similar to human microphthalmia in a subset of female mice but rarely in males and provide evidence that Ftx plays a role in gene silencing on the inactive X chromosome.

    • Yusuke Hosoi
    • , Miki Soma
    •  & Shin Kobayashi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During ‘meiotic drive’, some chromosomes can bias their spindle orientation and thus be retained in the egg. Here, the authors find that this phenomenon can be driven by microtubule force asymmetry on chromosomes with differently sized centromeres and kinetochores.

    • Tianyu Wu
    • , Simon I. R. Lane
    •  & Keith T. Jones

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Feeder cells are widely used for the culture of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), but their specific effects are not well known. Here, the authors demonstrate that mouse ESCs exhibit telomere loss and chromosomal aberrations associated with reduced Zscan4 with increasing passages in the absence of feeders

    • Renpeng Guo
    • , Xiaoying Ye
    •  & Lin Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hox genes regulate anterior–posterior axis formation but their role in cnidarians is unclear. Here, the authors disrupt Hox genes NvAx1 and NvAx6 in the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, showing antagonist function in patterning the oral–aboral axis and a link to Wnt signaling.

    • Timothy Q. DuBuc
    • , Thomas B. Stephenson
    •  & Mark Q. Martindale

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During embryo development, cell fitness determines survival but how this is regulated is unclear. Here, the authors show that in early embryonic development and stem cells exiting the naive state, cells sense the fitness of their neighbours and trigger p53 to repress mTOR to eliminate a third of cells.

    • Sarah Bowling
    • , Aida Di Gregorio
    •  & Tristan A. Rodríguez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the mouse embryo, anterior-posterior polarity is established by distal visceral endoderm (DVE) at embryonic day 5.5 but how this arises is unclear. Here, the authors show that expression of Lefty1 earlier can define DVE, and that future DVE cells are selected by Nodal signalling and stochasticity.

    • Katsuyoshi Takaoka
    • , Hiromi Nishimura
    •  & Hiroshi Hamada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    X-chromosome inactivation is reversed in the mouse inner cell mass (ICM) through a mechanism that is not fully understood. Here, the authors investigate this process and characterize the contributions of the epigenetic landscape and transcription factors in X-linked gene reactivation dynamics.

    • Maud Borensztein
    • , Ikuhiro Okamoto
    •  & Edith Heard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The molecular trigger that establishes cell polarity in the mammalian embryo is unclear. Here, the authors show that de novo polarisation of the mouse embryo at the 8-cell stage is directed by Phospholipase C and Protein kinase C and occurs in two phases: polarisation of actomyosin followed by the Par complex.

    • Meng Zhu
    • , Chuen Yan Leung
    •  & Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rotifers are microscopic animals with an unusual, nonsegmented body plan consisting of a head, trunk and foot. Here, Fröbius and Funch investigate the role of Hox genes—which are widely used in animal body plan patterning—in rotifer embryogenesis and find non-canonical expression in the nervous system.

    • Andreas C. Fröbius
    •  & Peter Funch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Epithelial progenitor cell growth in the second heart field contributes to heart morphogenesis but how this is regulated at the tissue level is unclear. Here, the authors show that cell elongation, polarized actomyosin and nuclear YAP/TAZ drive epithelial growth and correlate with mechanical tension.

    • Alexandre Francou
    • , Christopher De Bono
    •  & Robert G. Kelly

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ingression of cells from the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) initiates gonad differentiation but how these events are triggered is unclear. Here, the authors show that gonadal progenitor cells at the ventromedial LPM initiate gonadogenesis, and are activated by Hedgehog and BMP4 signalling.

    • Takashi Yoshino
    • , Hidetaka Murai
    •  & Daisuke Saito

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Long-term time-lapse imaging of motile developing organisms at the single cell level is challenging. Here the authors culture free-moving C. eleganslarvae in hydrogel chambers containing a food source, and use fast image acquisition to follow developmental processes.

    • Nicola Gritti
    • , Simone Kienle
    •  & Jeroen Sebastiaan van Zon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rhythmic patterning governs the formation of somites in vertebrates, but how the period of such rhythms can be changed is unclear. Here, the authors generate a genetic model in zebrafish to increase DeltaD expression, which increases the range of Delta-Notch signalling, causing faster segmentation.

    • Bo-Kai Liao
    • , David J. Jörg
    •  & Andrew C. Oates

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear how embryonic stem cells (ESC) communicate with surrounding cells during implantation. Here, the authors show that microvesicles (MV) are shed from ESCs, activating integrin and JNK/FAK kinases in trophoblasts, stimulating migration in vitro, and injecting MVs enhances blastocyst implantation.

    • Laura M. Desrochers
    • , François Bordeleau
    •  & Marc A. Antonyak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    SMARCB1 inactivation is prevalent in human atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumours but a mouse model that accurately phenocopies the human disease is lacking. Here, the authors show that inactivation of SMARCB1between E6 and E10 in mice results in tumours that better recapitulate the human phenotype, compared to previously reported models.

    • Zhi-Yan Han
    • , Wilfrid Richer
    •  & Franck Bourdeaut

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Histone modifying enzymes are required for cell differentiation and lineage commitment during embryonic development. By a comprehensive set of epigenome reference maps of Xenopusembryos, the authors show that H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 exert an extended maternal control well into post-gastrulation development.

    • Saartje Hontelez
    • , Ila van Kruijsbergen
    •  & Gert Jan C. Veenstra

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The stem and progenitor populations that regulate mammary gland development are debated. Giraddi et al.use experimental and mathematical approaches to show that the three lineages of the mammary gland are maintained by their own restricted progenitors, and that cycling status links to the oestrus cycle.

    • Rajshekhar R. Giraddi
    • , Mona Shehata
    •  & John Stingl

  • Article |

    How diffusible signals determine cell fate is a vital and still unresolved developmental biology issue. Using the Drosophilaegg chamber as a model system, here the authors apply novel imaging and mathematical approaches to show that cell differentiation depends on irregular tissue domains that lead to asymmetric distributions of morphogens.

    • Lathiena A. Manning
    • , Ann Marie Weideman
    •  & Michelle Starz-Gaiano

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How morphogen gradients induce complex gene expression programmes in the receiving cells is poorly understood. Here the authors use a quantitative approach to show that inC. elegansvulva induction cells control morphogen-induced gene expression by changing their sensitivity to the morphogen.

    • Jeroen Sebastiaan van Zon
    • , Simone Kienle
    •  & Alexander van Oudenaarden

  • Article |

    DNA methylation undergoes dynamic changes during development and cell differentiation. Here, by comparing DNA methylomes from different stages of embryonic development of the zebrafish, the authors suggest that developmental enhancers are a major target of DNA methylation changes during embryogenesis.

    • Hyung Joo Lee
    • , Rebecca F. Lowdon
    •  & Ting Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Following fertilization, the oocyte and sperm lose their distinct chromatin signature to form a functional embryonic genome. Here the authors find that, in human embryos, the paternal constitutive heterochromatin is inherited in the canonical configuration from the sperm and is propagated by the H3K9/HP1 pathway.

    • Christine van de Werken
    • , Godfried W. van der Heijden
    •  & Esther B. Baart

  • Article |

    Non-canonical Wnt signalling regulates cell migration and convergent extension during embryonic development; however, the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Ye et al.identify CD146 as a receptor for Wnt5a, and show that this receptor inhibits canonical Wnt signalling pathways.

    • Zhongde Ye
    • , Chunxia Zhang
    •  & Xiyun Yan

  • Article |

    The mouse segmentation clock regulates the periodicity of somite formation. Okubo and colleagues investigate the mechanisms underlying the synchronization of the clock in embryonic chimaeras and find that the synchronization is regulated by the protein Lfng, which represses Notch signalling in neighbouring cells.

    • Yusuke Okubo
    • , Takeshi Sugawara
    •  & Yumiko Saga

  • Article |

    Cell fusion is involved in many different cellular processes including the fusion of trophoblast cells in the placenta. Matsuuraet al. identify a role for the β-catenin signalling pathway in the regulation of the transcription factor GCM1 and therefore the fusion of syncytiotrophoblast cells.

    • Ken Matsuura
    • , Takafumi Jigami
    •  & Tetsu Akiyama

  • Article |

    Ampullary organs are involved in electroreception, but whether these are derived from placodes, thickened ectoderm, is unclear. In this study, the ampullary organs of the primitive ray-finned fish,Polyodon spathula, are shown to develop from lateral line placodes, suggesting that this is the ancestral state in bony fishes.

    • Melinda S. Modrell
    • , William E. Bemis
    •  & Clare V.H. Baker

  • Article |

    The fusion of satellite cells to muscle fibres during adult life is required for both muscle growth and regeneration but it is unknown whether non-muscle cells contribute to this process. Now, Dellavalle and colleagues show that pericytes, cells associated with the vasculature can contribute to both growth and regeneration of muscle fibres.

    • A. Dellavalle
    • , G. Maroli
    •  & G. Cossu

  • Article |

    How retinoganglion cell axons project correctly to the superior colliculus is poorly understood. Here, projections are shown to require EphB1, EphB2 and ephrin-B1 to terminate in the medial superior colliculus, while ephrin-B2 is essential for the mapping of both dorsal and ventral axons.

    • Sonal Thakar
    • , George Chenaux
    •  & Mark Henkemeyer

  • Article |

    Bird wings resemble the digits on the hands of dinosaurs, but which digit positions gave rise to those seen in modern birds is still unclear. In this work, long-term fate maps of the chick wing polarizing region are presented, supporting fossil data that birds descended from theropods that had digits 1, 2 and 3.

    • Matthew Towers
    • , Jason Signolet
    •  & Cheryll Tickle

  • Article |

    During development, Wnt-mediated Notch signalling controls the generation of somites from the presomitic mesoderm, but the precise signalling mechanism is unknown. Here, the transcription factor Mesogenin 1 is shown to be a direct target of Wnt3a and regulates the transcription of a Notch signalling program.

    • Ravindra B. Chalamalasetty
    • , William C. Dunty Jr
    •  & Terry P. Yamaguchi

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