Towers, M. (2018) Evolution of antero-posterior patterning of the limb: insights from the chick. Genesis, 56 (1). e23047. ISSN 1526-954X
Abstract
The developing limbs of chicken embryos have served as pioneering models for understanding pattern formation for over a century. The ease with which chick wing and leg buds can be experimentally manipulated, while the embryo is still in the egg, has resulted in the discovery of important developmental organisers, and subsequently, the signals that they produce. Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is produced by mesenchyme cells of the polarizing region at the posterior margin of the limb bud and specifies positional values across the antero-posterior axis (the axis running from the thumb to the little finger). Detailed experimental embryology has revealed the fundamental parameters required to specify antero-posterior positional values in response to Shh signaling in chick wing and leg buds. In this review, the evolution of the avian wing and leg will be discussed in the broad context of tetrapod paleontology, and more specifically, ancestral theropod dinosaur paleontology. How the parameters that dictate antero-posterior patterning could have been modulated to produce the avian wing and leg digit patterns will be considered. Finally, broader speculations will be made regarding what the antero-posterior patterning of chick limbs can tell us about the evolution of other digit patterns, including those that were found in the limbs of the earliest tetrapods.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Authors The Journal of Genetics and Development Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | avian; chick; digits; dinosaur; limb; positional information; self organization; Shh; theropod; tetrapod |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Biomedical Science (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number WELLCOME TRUST (THE) 202756/Z/16/Z |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 20 Sep 2017 13:47 |
Last Modified: | 20 Oct 2023 15:57 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/dvg.23047 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:121374 |