Switching Axial Progenitors from Producing Trunk to Tail Tissues in Vertebrate Embryos

The vertebrate body is made by progressive addition of new tissue from progenitors at the posterior embryonic end. Axial extension involves different mechanisms that produce internal organs in the trunk but not in the tail. We show that Gdf11 signaling is a major coordinator of the trunk-to-tail transition. Without Gdf11 signaling, the switch from trunk to tail is significantly delayed, and its premature activation brings the hindlimbs and cloaca next to the forelimbs, leaving extremely short trunks. Gdf11 activity includes activation of Isl1 to promote formation of the hindlimbs and cloaca-associated mesoderm as the most posterior derivatives of lateral mesoderm progenitors. Gdf11 also coordinates reallocation of bipotent neuromesodermal progenitors from the anterior primitive streak to the tail bud, in part by reducing the retinoic acid available to the progenitors. Our findings provide a perspective to understand the evolution of the vertebrate body plan.

Ellen Meiksins Wood (1942-2016)

Fil: García Mac Gaw, Carlos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET); Argentina.

The cry of our Board School children; a sermon preached at the St. John's Wood Synagogue on ... December 1st, 1894,

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National Conference on Wood Transportation Structures /

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Detail of tree trunk and stump, and small sketch of skyline

[From Jasper Cropsey Sketch book, 1855-1856]

Trunk Highway 60 reconstruction project, Nobles County MN and Osceola County IA : environmental impact statement.

Fsup available only on CD-ROM.

Coal tar, creosote, and coal tar neutral oil : non-wood preservative uses.

Mode of access: Internet.