title: Cross-kingdom comparison of the developmental hourglass.
abstract: The developmental hourglass model has its foundations in classic anatomical studies by von Baer and Haeckel. In this context, even the conservation of animal body plans has been explained by evolutionary constraints acting on mid-embryogenic development. Recent studies have shown that developmental hourglass patterns also exist on the transcriptomic level, mirroring the corresponding morphological patterns. The identification of similar patterns in embryonic, post-embryonic, and life cycle spanning transcriptomes in plant and fungus development, however, contradict the notion of a direct coupling between morphological and molecular patterns. To explain the existence of hourglass patterns across kingdoms and developmental processes, we propose the organizational checkpoint model that integrates the developmental hourglass model into a framework of transcriptome switches.
authors.affiliation: The Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1LR, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Hajk-Georg
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Drost
authors.affiliation: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Betty-Heimann-Str. 5, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Janitza
authors.affiliation: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Computer Science, Von-Seckendorff-Platz 1, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany; German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grosse
authors.affiliation: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Betty-Heimann-Str. 5, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany. Electronic address: marcel.quint@landw.uni-halle.de.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quint
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018519:Meristem / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D008954:Models, Biological; D063245:Plant Development; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development*; D059467:Transcriptome