An amphioxus neurula stage cell atlas supports a complex scenario for the emergence of vertebrate head mesoderm.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of new structures can often be linked to the evolution of novel cell types that follows the rewiring of developmental gene regulatory subnetworks. Vertebrates are characterized by a complex body plan compared to the other chordate clades and the question remains of whether and how the emergence of vertebrate morphological innovations can be related to the appearance of new embryonic cell populations. We previously proposed, by studying mesoderm development in the cephalochordate amphioxus, a scenario for the evolution of the vertebrate head mesoderm. To further test this scenario at the cell population level, we used scRNA-seq to construct a cell atlas of the amphioxus neurula, stage at which the main mesodermal compartments are specified. Our data allowed us to validate the

SUBMITTER: Grau-Bove X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11136973 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature