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Regional Specification
In the field of developmental biology, regional differentiation is the process by which different areas are identified in the development of the early embryo. The process by which the cells become specified differs between organisms. Cell fate determination In terms of developmental commitment, a cell can either be specified or it can be determined. Specification is the first stage in differentiation. A cell that is specified can have its commitment reversed while the determined state is irreversible. There are two main types of specification: autonomous and conditional. A cell specified autonomously will develop into a specific fate based upon cytoplasmic determinants with no regard to the environment the cell is in. A cell specified conditionally will develop into a specific fate based upon other surrounding cells or morphogen gradients. Another type of specification is syncytial specification, characteristic of most insect classes. Specification in sea urchins uses both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Developmental Biology
Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of Regeneration (biology), regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and differentiation of stem cells in the adult organism. Perspectives The main processes involved in the embryogenesis, embryonic development of animals are: tissue patterning (via regional specification and patterned cellular differentiation, cell differentiation); tissue growth; and tissue morphogenesis. * Regional specification refers to the processes that create the spatial patterns in a ball or sheet of initially similar cells. This generally involves the action of cytoplasmic determinants, located within parts of the fertilized egg, and of inductive signals emitted from signaling centers in the embryo. The early stages of regional specification do not generate functional differentiated cells, but cell populations committed to developing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phosphorylation
In biochemistry, phosphorylation is described as the "transfer of a phosphate group" from a donor to an acceptor. A common phosphorylating agent (phosphate donor) is ATP and a common family of acceptor are alcohols: : This equation can be written in several ways that are nearly equivalent that describe the behaviors of various protonated states of ATP, ADP, and the phosphorylated product. As is clear from the equation, a phosphate group per se is not transferred, but a phosphoryl group (PO3-). Phosphoryl is an electrophile. This process and its inverse, dephosphorylation, are common in biology. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Protein phosphorylation often activates (or deactivates) many enzymes. During respiration Phosphorylation is essential to the processes of both anaerobic and aerobic respiration, which involve the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the "high-energy" exc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Segment Polarity Gene
A segmentation gene is a generic term for a gene whose function is to specify tissue pattern in each repeated unit of a segmented organism. Animals are constructed of segments; however, Drosophila segments also contain subdivided compartments. There are five gene classes which each contribute to the segmentation and development of the embryonic ''drosophila''. These five gene classes include the coordinate gene, gap gene, pair-rule gene, segment polarity gene, and homeotic gene. In embryonic ''drosophila'', the pair-rule gene defines odd-skipped and even-skipped genes as parasegments, showing 7 stripes in the embryo. In the next gene class, segment polarity gene, individual segments each have their own anterior and posterior pole, resulting in 14 segments. In the fruit fly ''Drosophila melanogaster'', segment polarity genes help to define the anterior and posterior polarities within each embryonic parasegment by regulating the transmission of signals via the Wnt signaling pathway and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pair-rule Gene
A pair-rule gene is a type of gene involved in the development of the segmented embryos of insects. Pair-rule genes are expressed as a result of differing concentrations of gap gene proteins, which encode transcription factors controlling pair-rule gene expression. Pair-rule genes are defined by the effect of a mutation in that gene, which causes the loss of the normal developmental pattern in alternating segments. Pair-rule genes were first described by Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus in 1980. They used a genetic screen to identify genes required for embryonic development in the fruit fly ''Drosophila melanogaster''. In normal unmutated ''Drosophila,'' each segment produces bristles called denticles in a band arranged on the side of the segment closer to the head (the anterior Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gap Gene
A gap gene is a type of gene involved in the development of the segmented embryos of some arthropods. Gap genes are defined by the effect of a mutation in that gene, which causes the loss of contiguous body segments, resembling a gap in the normal body plan. Each gap gene, therefore, is necessary for the development of a section of the organism. Gap genes were first described by Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus in 1980. They used a genetic screen to identify genes required for embryonic development in the fruit fly ''Drosophila melanogaster''. They found three genes – ''knirps, Krüppel and hunchback'' – where mutations caused deletion of particular stretches of segments. Later work identified more gap genes in the ''Drosophila'' early embryo – ''giant'', ''huckebein'' and ''tailless''. Further gap genes including orthodenticle and buttonhead are required for the development of the ''Drosophila'' head. Once the gap genes had been identified at the molecu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Segmentation Gene
A segmentation gene is a gene involved in the early developmental stages of pattern formation. It regulates how cells are organized and defines repeated units in the embryo. Segmentation genes have been documented in three taxa: arthropods (i.e. insects and crabs), chordates (i.e. mammals and fish), and annelids (i.e. leeches and earthworms). In ''Drosophila melanogaster'', a common fruit fly, segmentation genes divide the embryo into 14 parasegments which are among the first compartments to form within the embryo. Rare variants in segmentation genes can cause changes in appearance of differing severity depending on its type. The genes can be classified into 3 groups: Gap genes, Pair-rule genes and Segment polarity genes. Gap genes Gap genes are among the first genes expressed in the embryo. Here, expression refers to the translation of the gene. Gap genes were named as such because loss-of-function variants in gap genes resulted in large deletions (or gaps) in the neighbourin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vasa Gene
''Vasa'' is an RNA binding protein with an ATP-dependent RNA helicase that is a member of the DEAD box family of proteins. The vasa gene is essential for germ cell development and was first identified in ''Drosophila melanogaster'', but has since been found to be conserved in a variety of vertebrates and invertebrates including humans. The Vasa protein is found primarily in germ cells in embryos and adults, where it is involved in germ cell determination and function, as well as in multipotent stem cells, where its exact function is unknown. Gene The Vasa gene is a member of the DEAD box family of RNA helicases in ''Drosophila melanogaster.'' Its human ortholog, Ddx4, is located on human chromosome 5q. It is syntenic to mouse chromosome 13, where the mouse vasa gene is located. The gene is conserved in many invertebrates and vertebrate species such as ''Caenorhabditis elegans'', ''Xenopus'', Zebrafish, flatworms, echinoderms, molluscs, nematodes, mice and rats as an important par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drosophila
''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger around overripe or rotting fruit. They should not be confused with the Tephritidae, a related family, which are also called fruit flies (sometimes referred to as "true fruit flies"); tephritids feed primarily on unripe or ripe fruit, with many species being regarded as destructive agricultural pests, especially the Mediterranean fruit fly. One species of ''Drosophila'' in particular, ''Drosophila melanogaster'', has been heavily used in research in genetics and is a common model organism in developmental biology. The terms "fruit fly" and "''Drosophila''" are often used synonymously with ''D. melanogaster'' in modern biological literatur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wnt Signaling Pathway
In cellular biology, the Wnt signaling pathways are a group of signal transduction pathways which begin with proteins that pass signals into a cell through cell surface receptors. The name Wnt, pronounced "wint", is a portmanteau created from the names Wingless and Int-1. Wnt signaling pathways use either nearby cell-cell communication (paracrine) or same-cell communication (autocrine). They are highly evolutionarily conserved in animals, which means they are similar across animal species from fruit flies to humans. Three Wnt signaling pathways have been characterized: the canonical Wnt pathway, the noncanonical planar cell polarity pathway, and the noncanonical Wnt/calcium pathway. All three pathways are activated by the binding of a Wnt-protein ligand to a Frizzled family receptor, which passes the biological signal to the Dishevelled protein inside the cell. The canonical Wnt pathway leads to regulation of gene transcription, and is thought to be negatively regulated in part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mosaic Behavior
Mosaicism or genetic mosaicism is a condition in which a multicellular organism possesses more than one genetic line as the result of genetic mutation. This means that various genetic lines resulted from a single fertilized egg. Mosaicism is one of several possible causes of chimerism, wherein a single organism is composed of cells with more than one distinct genotype. Genetic mosaicism can result from many different mechanisms including chromosome nondisjunction, anaphase lag, and endoreplication. Anaphase lagging is the most common way by which mosaicism arises in the preimplantation embryo. Mosaicism can also result from a mutation in one cell during development, in which case the mutation will be passed on only to its daughter cells (and will be present only in certain adult cells). Somatic mosaicism is not generally inheritable as it does not generally affect germ cells. History In 1929, Alfred Sturtevant studied mosaicism in ''Drosophila'', a genus of fruit fly. H. J. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caenorhabditis Elegans
''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a Hybrid word, blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (rod-like) and Latin ''elegans'' (elegant). In 1900, Émile Maupas, Maupas initially named it ''Rhabditidae, Rhabditides elegans.'' Günther Osche, Osche placed it in the subgenus ''Caenorhabditis'' in 1952, and in 1955, Ellsworth Dougherty, Dougherty raised ''Caenorhabditis'' to the status of genus. ''C. elegans'' is an unsegmented pseudocoelomate and lacks respiratory or circulatory systems. Most of these nematodes are hermaphrodites and a few are males. Males have specialised tails for mating that include spicule (nematode), spicules. In 1963, Sydney Brenner proposed research into ''C. elegans,'' primarily in the area of neuronal development. In 1974, he began research into the molecular biology, molecular and developmental ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunicates
Tunicates are marine invertebrates belonging to the subphylum Tunicata ( ). This grouping is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time called Urochordata, and the term urochordates is still sometimes used for these animals. Despite their simple appearance and very different adult form, their close relationship to the vertebrates is certain. Both groups are chordates, as evidenced by the fact that during their mobile larval stage, tunicates possess a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, post-anal tail, and an endostyle. They resemble a tadpole. Tunicates are the only chordates that have lost their myomeric segmentation, with the possible exception of the seriation of the gill slits. However, doliolids still display segmentation of the muscle bands. Some tunicates live as solitary individuals, but others replicate by budding and become colonies, e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
