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Developmental Bio 150 Notes
Developmental Bio 150 Notes
EXCLUDE CHP 21
Intro
- During embryonic development: Fertilized egg gives rise to many different cell types
- Cells are organized successively into tissues, organs, organ systems & the whole
organism
- Gene expression orchestrates developmental programs of animals
- Tells a cell its location relative to body axes & to neighboring cells
- Pattern formation has been extensively studied in fruit fly Drosophila
melanogaster
- Combination of anatomical, genetic & biochemical approaches
- Researchers have discovered developmental principles common to many
other species, including humans
- Life Cycle of Drosophila
- In Drosophila, cytoplasmic determinants in the unfertilized egg determine
the axes before fertilization
- After fertilization, the embryo develops into a segmented larva with three
larval stages
- The larva then forms a pupa, which undergoes metamorphosis into adult
fly
- 1. Egg cell with nucleus, follicle cells and nurse cells (support cells)
- 2. Nurse cells shrink and give materials to the growing egg shell
- 3. Egg is fertilized, then gets laid outside
- 4. Segmentation pattern forms by creating a larva
- 5. Eventually the larva is formed with it’s right and left axis
- Genetic Analysis of Early Development
- Edward Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard & Eric Wieschaus won a Nobel Prize
in 1995 for decoding pattern formation in Drosophila
- Abnormal Pattern Formation in Drosophila
- Lewis discovered homeotic genes by studying bizarre mutant flies with
developmental defects (e.g., extra wings, legs in wrong place)
- Located the mutations on the fly’s genetic map
- Connected developmental abnormalities to specific genes
- Homeotic genes = Genes that control pattern formation in the late
embryo, larva & adult stages
- Mutations result in transformations in the identity of entire body parts
- Genetic Analysis of Segment Formation
- Nüsslein-Volhard & Wieschaus studied segment formation
- They created mutants, conducted breeding experiments & looked for
corresponding genes
- Many of the identified mutations were embryonic lethals, causing death
during embryogenesis
- They found ~120 genes essential for normal segmentation
- Axis Establishment
- Maternal effect genes = Encode cytoplasmic determinants that initially establish
the body axes of Drosophila
- Also called egg-polarity genes
- They control orientation of the egg & consequently the fly
- When maternal effect genes are mutant in mother
- Mutant phenotype in offspring, regardless of offspring’s own genotype
- Even if the offspring does not have the mutation, it shows the phenotype
- Phenotype = Observable physical & physiological traits of an organism, which
are determined by its genetic make-up
- Genotype = Genetic make-up of an organism
- EX: Bicoid
- One maternal effect gene, the bicoid gene, affects the front half of the
body (head)
- An embryo whose mother has no functional bicoid gene lacks the front
half of its body & has duplicate posterior structures at both ends
- Bicoid means “two-tailed”
- If the mom has a mutated bicoid gene, the offspring will have two
tails even if its DNA is not mutated
- This two-tailed phenotype suggests that the product of the mother’s bicoid
gene is essential for setting up the anterior end (head) of the embryo
- Bicoid Morphogen Gradient Hypothesis
- This hypothesis (i.e., product of mother’s bicoid gene being essential for
proper anterior-posterior axis set up) is an example of the morphogen
gradient hypothesis
- Gradients of substances called morphogens (e.g., bicoid mRNA/protein)
establish an embryo’s axes & other features of its form
- Experiments showed that bicoid protein is distributed in an anterior to
posterior gradient in the early embryo
- The bicoid proteins are distributed along the egg as a gradient and
determine polarity of the egg
- The head will develop in areas of high concentration of bicoid
- The tail will develop in areas of low concentration of bicoid
- Bicoid Research
- The bicoid research was groundbreaking for three reasons:
- It identified a specific protein required for some early steps in pattern
formation (bicoid protein)
- It increased understanding of the mother’s role in embryo development
- It demonstrated that a gradient of molecules can determine polarity &
position in the embryo
Model Organisms
- Biologists use model organisms to study development, chosen for the ease with which
they can be studied in the laboratory
- Development occurs at many points in the life cycle of an animal
- Across a range of animal species, embryonic development involves common stages that
occur in a set order
- Set Order of Embryonic Development
- 1. Fertilization
- 2. Cleavage
- 3. Gastrulation
- 4. Organogenesis
- 5. Morphogenesis
- Gastrulation and Organogenesis
- Origin and development of morphological traits
- Characteristics of Model Organisms
- Development similar to larger group of organisms
- Short generation time
- Relatively small genome
- Well characterized in terms of its genes & overall development
- 2. Phase - Cleavage
- Fertilization is followed by cleavage, a period of rapid cell division without
growth
- Cleavage partitions the cytoplasm of one large cell into many smaller cells called
blastomeres
- Blastula = Ball of cells with a fluid-filled cavity called a blastocoel
- Cleavage in Frog Embryos
- In frogs & many other land animals, cleavage is asymmetrical due to
distribution of yolk (stored nutrients)
- The vegetal pole has more yolk; the animal pole has less yolk
- The yolk greatly affects the pattern of cleavage
- The first two cleavage furrows in the frog form four equally sized
blastomere
- The third cleavage is asymmetrical, forming unequally sized blastomeres
- This asymmetry is due to the yolk in the vegetal hemisphere
- Gastrulation in Frogs
- Frog gastrulation begins when a group of cells on the dorsal side of the
blastula begins to invaginate
- This forms a crease along the region where the gray crescent formed
- Cells continue to move from the embryo surface into the embryo by
involution
- These cells become the endoderm & mesoderm
- Cells on the embryo surface will form the ectoderm
- The newly formed cavity is called the archenteron
- This opens through the blastopore, which will become the anus
(i.e., deuterostomes: “mouth second”)
- Gastrulation in Chicks/Birds
- Prior to gastrulation, the embryo is composed of an upper & lower layer,
the epiblast & hypoblast, respectively
- Hypoblast is the invisible layer that surrounds the yolk and keeps it
together
- During gastrulation, epiblast cells move toward the midline of the
blastoderm
- Then into embryo toward yolk
- Midline thickens “Primitive streak”
- Hypoblast cells contribute to
- sac that surrounds yolk
- connection between yolk & embryo
- but do not contribute to embryo itself
Take Home
- Sources of Developmental Information
- Cytoplasmic Determinants
- Induction
- Sequential Gene Regulation: Determination vs. Differentiation
- Pattern Formation
- Organismal Cloning
- Nuclear Transplantation
- Stem Cells
- Order & Process of embryonic development
- Fertilization
- Cleavage
- Gastrulation
-