EMBO J (2012) 31 24, 4488–4501 doi:; DOI: 10.1038/emboj.2012.294; published online November 09 2012
The endoreplication programme consists of multiple rounds of full genome replication in the absence of any intervening mitosis. This leads to an increase in nuclear ploidy that has been linked to the initiation of cell differentiation and growth. Recent work (Breuer et al, 2012) has identified the GTL1 transcription factor as a master regulator of cell growth through two different mechanisms: one, endoreplication dependent where GTL1 acts as a repressor of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC), and another as a regulator of endoreplication-independent cell growth.