Symmetry breaking in the embryonic skin triggers directional and sequential plumage patterning.

ABSTRACT: The development of an organism involves the formation of patterns from initially homogeneous surfaces in a reproducible manner. Simulations of various theoretical models recapitulate final states of natural patterns, yet drawing testable hypotheses from those often remains difficult. Consequently, little is known about pattern-forming events. Here, we surveyed plumage patterns and their emergence in Galliformes, ratites, passerines, and penguins, together representing the three major taxa of the avian phylogeny, and built a unified model that not only reproduces final patterns but also intrinsically generates shared and varying directionality, sequence, and duration of patterning. We used in vivo and ex vivo experiments to test its parameter-based predictions. We showed that directional an

SUBMITTER: Bailleul R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6791559 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature