Shared evolutionary origin of vertebrate neural crest and cranial placodes.

ABSTRACT: Placodes and neural crests represent defining features of vertebrates, yet their relationship remains unclear despite extensive investigation^1-3. Here we use a combination of lineage tracing, gene disruption and single-cell RNA-sequencing assays to explore the properties of the lateral plate ectoderm of the proto-vertebrate, Ciona intestinalis. There are notable parallels between the patterning of the lateral plate in Ciona and the compartmentalization of the neural plate ectoderm in vertebrates⁴. Both systems exhibit sequential patterns of Six1/2, Pax3/7 and Msxb expression that depend on a network of interlocking regulatory interactions⁴. In Ciona, this compartmentalization network produces distinct but related types of sensory cells that share similariti

SUBMITTER: Horie R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6390964 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature