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- Title
Control of segment number in vertebrate embryos.
- Authors
Gomez, Céline; Ozbudak, Ertuğrul M; Wunderlich, Joshua; Baumann, Diana; Lewis, Julian; Pourquié, Olivier
- Abstract
The vertebrate body axis is subdivided into repeated segments, best exemplified by the vertebrae that derive from embryonic somites. The number of somites is precisely defined for any given species but varies widely from one species to another. To determine the mechanism controlling somite number, we have compared somitogenesis in zebrafish, chicken, mouse and corn snake embryos. Here we present evidence that in all of these species a similar 'clock-and-wavefront' mechanism operates to control somitogenesis; in all of them, somitogenesis is brought to an end through a process in which the presomitic mesoderm, having first increased in size, gradually shrinks until it is exhausted, terminating somite formation. In snake embryos, however, the segmentation clock rate is much faster relative to developmental rate than in other amniotes, leading to a greatly increased number of smaller-sized somites.
- Publication
Nature, 2008, Vol 454, Issue 7202, p335
- ISSN
1476-4687
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1038/nature07020