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Scientists Discover How Embryos Develop Different Tail Types In a new study, scientists have uncovered the molecular mechanism responsible for the development of different tail types in embryos. New Method to Track Embryo Development in Real Time Researchers have developed a new method to track embryo development in real time that could revolutionize our understanding of how embryos form and grow. How Embryonic Cells Know When to Divide Researchers have discovered how embryonic cells know when to divide, providing an answer to a long-standing mystery about early embryo development.
The annual killifish lives in regions with extreme drought. A research group at the University of Basel now reports in Science that the early embryogenesis of killifish diverges from that of other species. Unlike other fish, their body structure is not predetermined from the outset. This could enable the species to survive dry periods unscathed.
Kupffer cells, the liver-resident macrophages, are diminished in liver metastasis. However, vacating of macrophage niches by monocyte depletion promotes the infiltration of Kupffer cells into metastases, resulting in significant phenotypic and functional alterations due to epigenetic reprogramming.
Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii. The first signs of its presence on Earth have been dated at over a billion years, well before the appearance of the first animals. A team has observed that this species forms multicellular structures that bear striking similarities to animal embryos. These observations suggest that the genetic programs responsible for embryonic development were already present before the emergence of animal life, or that C. perkinsii evolved independently to develop similar processes. Nature would therefore have possessed the genetic tools to 'create eggs' long before it 'invented chickens'.
Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii. The first signs of its presence on Earth have been dated at over a billion years, well before the appearance of the first animals.
Our experiments and computer simulations indicate that crocodile head scales self-organise through a purely mechanical process of compressive folding. The diversity of head-scale patterns among crocodilian species evolved through variation of embryonic skin growth and mechanical properties.
How can we explain the morphological diversity of living organisms? Although genetics is the answer that typically springs to mind, it is not the only explanation. By combining observations of embryonic development, advanced microscopy, and cutting-edge computer modelling, a multi-disciplinary team demonstrates that the crocodile head scales emerge from the mechanics of growing tissues, rather than molecular genetics. The diversity of these head scales observed in different crocodilian species therefore arises from the evolution of mechanical parameters, such as the growth rate and stiffness of the skin. These results shed new light on the physical forces involved in the development and evolution of living forms.