Search results for " patterning"
showing 10 items of 61 documents
Arrays in rays: terminal addition in echinoderms and its correlation with gene expression
2005
Summary The echinoderms are deuterostomes that superimpose radial symmetry upon bilateral larval morphology. Consequently, they are not the first animals that come to mind when the concepts of segmentation and terminal addition are being discussed. However, it has long been recognized that echinoderms have serial elements along their radii formed in accordance with the ocular plate rule (OPR). The OPR is a special case of terminal growth, forming elements of the ambulacra that define the rays in echinoderms. New elements are added at the terminus of the ray, which may or may not be marked by a calcified element called the terminal plate (the “ocular” of sea urchins). The OPR operates in eve…
Bioelectrical model of head-tail patterning based on cell ion channels and intercellular gap junctions
2020
Robust control of anterior-posterior axial patterning during regeneration is mediated by bioelectric signaling. However, a number of systems-level properties of bioelectrochemical circuits, including stochastic outcomes such as seen in permanently de-stabilized "cryptic" flatworms, are not completely understood. We present a bioelectrical model for head-tail patterning that combines single-cell characteristics such as membrane ion channels with multicellular community effects via voltage-gated gap junctions. It complements the biochemically-focused models by describing the effects of intercellular electrochemical coupling, cutting plane, and gap junction blocking of the multicellular ensemb…
The ladybird homeobox genes are essential for the specification of a subpopulation of neural cells
2004
AbstractIn Drosophila, neurons and glial cells are produced by neural precursor cells called neuroblasts (NBs), which can be individually identified. Each NB generates a characteristic cell lineage specified by a precise spatiotemporal control of gene expression within the NB and its progeny. Here we show that the homeobox genes ladybird early and ladybird late are expressed in subsets of cells deriving from neuroblasts NB 5-3 and NB 5-6 and are essential for their correct development. Our analysis revealed that ladybird in Drosophila, like their vertebrate orthologous Lbx1 genes, play an important role in cell fate specification processes. Among those cells that express ladybird are NB 5-6…
Generation of cell diversity and segmental pattern in the embryonic central nervous system of Drosophila.
2005
Development of the central nervous system (CNS) involves the transformation of a two-dimensional epithelial sheet of uniform ectodermal cells, the neuroectoderm, into a highly complex three-dimensional structure consisting of a huge variety of different neural cell types. Characteristic numbers of each cell type become arranged in reproducible spatial patterns, which is a prerequisite for the establishment of specific functional contacts. The fruitfly Drosophila is a suitable model to approach the mechanisms controlling the generation of cell diversity and pattern in the developing CNS, as it allows linking of gene function to individually identifiable cells. This review addresses aspects o…
Spatio-temporal pattern of cells expressing the clock genes period and timeless and the lineages of period expressing neurons in the embryonic CNS of…
2010
The initial steps towards the generation of cell diversity in the central nervous system of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster take place during early phases of embryonic development when a stereotypic population of neural progenitor cells (neuroblasts and midline precursors) is formed in a precise spatial and temporal pattern, and subsequently expresses a particular sequence of genes. The clarification of the positional, temporal and molecular features of the individual progenitor cells in the nerve cord and brain as well as of their specific types of neuronal and/or glial progeny cells forms an essential basis to understand the mechanisms controlling their development. The present study…
Analysis of Drosophila salivary gland, epidermis and CNS development suggests an additional function of brinker in anterior-posterior cell fate speci…
2000
Salivary glands are simple structured organs which can serve as a model system in the study of organogenesis. Following a large EMS mutagenesis we have identified a number of genes required for normal salivary gland development. Mutations in the locus small salivary glands-1 (ssg-1) lead to a drastic reduction in the size of the salivary glands. The gene ssg-1 was cloned and subsequent sequence and genetic analysis showed identity to the recently published gene brinker. The salivary gland placode in brinker mutants appears reduced along both the anterior-posterior and dorso-ventral axis. Analysis of the brinker cuticle phenotype revealed a similar loss of anterior-posterior as well as later…
Neuroblast pattern and identity in the Drosophila tail region and role of doublesex in the survival of sex-specific precursors.
2013
The central nervous system is composed of segmental units (neuromeres), the size and complexity of which evolved in correspondence to their functional requirements. In Drosophila, neuromeres develop from populations of neural stem cells (neuroblasts) that delaminate from the early embryonic neuroectoderm in a stereotyped spatial and temporal pattern. Pattern units closely resemble the ground state and are rather invariant in thoracic (T1-T3) and anterior abdominal (A1-A7) segments of the embryonic ventral nerve cord. Here, we provide a comprehensive neuroblast map of the terminal abdominal neuromeres A8-A10, which exhibit a progressively derived character. Compared with thoracic and anterio…
Composition of a Neuromere and Its Segmental Diversification under the Control ofHoxGenes in the Embryonic CNS ofDrosophila
2014
Studies performed at the level of single, identified cells in the fruitfly Drosophila have decisively contributed to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development and function of the nervous system. This review highlights some of the work based on single-cell analyses in the embryonic/larval CNS that sheds light on the principles underlying formation and organization of an entire segmental unit and its divergence along the anterior/posterior body axis.
Programmed cell death in the embryonic central nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster.
2006
Although programmed cell death (PCD) plays a crucial role throughout Drosophila CNS development, its pattern and incidence remain largely uninvestigated. We provide here a detailed analysis of the occurrence of PCD in the embryonic ventral nerve cord (VNC). We traced the spatio-temporal pattern of PCD and compared the appearance of, and total cell numbers in,thoracic and abdominal neuromeres of wild-type and PCD-deficient H99mutant embryos. Furthermore, we have examined the clonal origin and fate of superfluous cells in H99 mutants by DiI labeling almost all neuroblasts, with special attention to segment-specific differences within the individually identified neuroblast lineages. Our data r…
Abdominal-B and caudal inhibit the formation of specific neuroblasts in the Drosophila tail region
2013
The central nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster consists of fused segmental units (neuromeres), each generated by a characteristic number of neural stem cells (neuroblasts). In the embryo, thoracic and anterior abdominal neuromeres are almost equally sized and formed by repetitive sets of neuroblasts, whereas the terminal abdominal neuromeres are generated by significantly smaller populations of progenitor cells. Here we investigated the role of the Hox gene Abdominal-B in shaping the terminal neuromeres. We show that the regulatory isoform of Abdominal-B (Abd-B.r) not only confers abdominal fate to specific neuroblasts (e.g. NB6-4) and regulates programmed cell death of several proge…