Control of segment number in vertebrate embryos

Céline Gomez, Ertuğrul M. Özbudak, Joshua Wunderlich, Diana Baumann, Julian Lewis and Olivier Pourquié ()
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Céline Gomez: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA
Ertuğrul M. Özbudak: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA
Joshua Wunderlich: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA
Diana Baumann: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA
Julian Lewis: Vertebrate Development Laboratory, Cancer Research UK, London Research Institute
Olivier Pourquié: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA

Nature, 2008, vol. 454, issue 7202, 335-339

Abstract: “Development” Making vertebrae count The number of vertebrae, and hence the number of segments or 'somites' in the body, is highly variable among different vertebrate species. For instance, frogs have 10 vertebrae, while many snakes have over 300. But what controls vertebra number in a given species and why does it vary so much between species? Gomez et al. propose that the number depends on a balance struck early in embryogenesis between the division of the body into somites and the overall rate of development. They establish this by showing snakes have a much greater segmentation clock speed, relative to embryo development as a whole, than lizards and other vertebrates with fewer somites.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07020

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