Moving towards the next generation.
In most organisms, primordial germ cells are set aside from the cells of the body early in development. To form an embryonic gonad, germ cells often have to migrate along complex routes through and along diverse tissues until they reach the somatic part of the gonad. Recent advances have been made in the genetic analysis of these early stages of germ line development. Here we review findings from Drosophila, zebrafish, and mouse; each organism provides unique insight into the mechanisms that determine germ cell fate and the cues that may guide their migration.
Starz-Gaiano
M
M
Developmental Genetics Program, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and New York University School of Medicine, 540 First Avenue, 10016, New York, NY, USA.
Lehmann
R
R
D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002465:Cell Movement; D004330:Drosophila; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D015027:Zebrafish