Stored elastic bending tension as a mediator of embryonic body folding.

During development, amniote vertebrate embryos transform from a flat sheet into a three-dimensional cylindrical form through ventral folding of the lateral sides of the sheet (the lateral plate [LP]) and their fusion in the ventral midline. Using a chick embryo slice system, we find that the flat stage is actually a poised balance of opposing dorsal and ventral elastic bending tensions. An intact extracellular matrix (ECM) is required for generating tension, as localized digestion of ECM dissipates tension, while removal of endoderm or ectoderm layers has no significant effect.

Conservation of symbiotic signaling since the most recent common ancestor of land plants.

Plants have colonized lands 450 million years ago. This terrestrialization was facilitated by developmental and functional innovations. Recent evo-devo approaches have demonstrated that one of these innovations was the mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis (AMS).

Predisposition footprints in the somatic genome of Wilms tumours.

Ten percent of children with cancer harbour a mutation in a predisposition gene. In children with the kidney cancer, Wilms tumour, the prevalence is as high as 30%. Certain predispositions are associated with defined histological and clinical features, suggesting differences in tumourigenesis.