Clocked gene expression in somite formation.
A recent paper describes a striking expression pattern during somite formation for a chick ortholog of the fly hairy gene. Before segmentation, c-hairy1 mRNA oscillates in the presomitic mesoderm such that three distinct spatial patterns are seen. The authors use a series of ingenious manipulations to show that these phases follow each other in time, adding up to a 90-minute periodicity in c-hairy1 expression. The discovery of this clock of gene expression emphasizes the importance of temporally regulated events in the establishment of spatial patterns.
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Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. cds20@columbia.edu
Vasiliauskas
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D000818:Animals; D030161:Avian Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000235:genetics*; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004330:Drosophila; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008954:Models, Biological; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019170:Somites / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism
D030161:Avian Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D011506:Proteins; C109424:hairy1 protein, Gallus gallus