A set of genes that are turned on only within time-limited windows—including genes encoding RNA binding molecules, let-7 microRNAs and IMP1—control developmental switches in stem cell properties between fetal development and adulthood.
Changes in the amount and timing of gene expression during early development contribute to evolutionary divergence and life-history changes, even within a species.
Genes implicated in the control of mammalian puberty function as components of a molecular clock that determines the timing of sexual differentiation in the C. elegans nervous system.
A genetic oscillator composed of NHR-23 and let-7 family of microRNAs links the molting cycle timer and the heterochronic pathway to regulate the pace of molting in C. elegans and ensure that worms molt only four times.
A broadly used gene expression regulatory mechanism inactivates targets by CED-3-caspase-mediated proteolysis and works in parallel to miRNAs for diverse non-apoptotic developmental functions.
Comparison of human spinal cord rosette differentiation in vitro and following transplantation into heterologous embryonic environments, reveals cell-intrinsic constraint on human differentiation pace and the importance of timely extrinsic signalling for progression through an intrinsic human neural differentiation programme.
The sex-specificity of a transcription factor required for sexual differentiation of a neural circuit is regulated by a novel post-transcriptional mechanism.
