TY - JOUR
T1 - Control of segment number in vertebrate embryos
AU - Gomez, Céline
AU - Özbudak, Ertuǧrul M.
AU - Wunderlich, Joshua
AU - Baumann, Diana
AU - Lewis, Julian
AU - Pourquié, Olivier
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The authors thank M. Gibson, B. Rubinstein, P. Francois and members of the Pourquié laboratory for critical reading and discussions, M. Wahl for the mouse LFNG pictures, members of the Reptile and Aquatics Department, J. Chatfield for editorial assistance, and S. Esteban for artwork. Research was supported by Stowers Institute for Medical Research, and in part by a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant (O.P.). J.L. is supported by Cancer Research UK. Zebrafish were obtained from the Zebrafish International Resource Center (ZIRC) at the University of Oregon, which is supported by a grant from the NIH-NCRR. O.P. is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.
PY - 2008/7/17
Y1 - 2008/7/17
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
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U2 - 10.1038/nature07020
DO - 10.1038/nature07020
M3 - Article
C2 - 18563087
AN - SCOPUS:47549095365
SN - 0028-0836
VL - 454
SP - 335
EP - 339
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
IS - 7202
ER -