A chromatin boundary factor that is only active during early embryo development has been discovered in Drosophila.

The first zygotic genes are transcribed without RNA polymerase II pausing from a TATA-enriched promoter.

The reconstruction of damaged structures during regeneration requires cell reprogramming mediated by the up regulation of the JNK pathway and the transient debilitation of the epigenetic control mechanism.

The prokaryotic actin homologue MreB forms antiparallel double filaments in vitro and in vivo, an architecture that is unprecedented among the actin family of proteins.

The accumulation of its product, cytidine triphosphate, encourages the enzyme CTP synthetase (CtpS) to form large-scale polymers and inhibits the enzyme's activity.

Controlling cell cycle progression in a developing embryo directly depends on de novo histone supply and a specialized surveillance mechanism for nucleosome assembly.

A minimal cell-like system with defined geometry has been used to investigate the establishment and spatial control of a protein gradient that positions the bacterial cell division machinery.

A wide range of bacterial species can switch into a cell wall-free state that does not require the FtsZ-based division machinery to proliferate.

A bacteriophage tubulin homolog, PhuZ, forms a structure with the biochemical, structural, and functional properties of a simplified, bipolar spindle.