Some aspects of spiralian development

    15 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Spiralian development is not only a characteristic early cleavage pattern, with shifting orientations of the cleavage planes, but also highly conserved cell lineages, where the origin of several organs can be traced back to identifiable cells in the lineage. These patterns are well documented in annelids, molluscs, nemertines, and platyhelminths and are considered ancestral of a bilaterian clade including these phyla. Spiral cleavage has not been documented in ecdysozoans, and no trace of the spiral development pattern is seen in phoronids and brachiopods. Origin of the spatial organization in spiralian embryos is puzzling, but much of the information appears to be encoded in the developing oocyte. Fertilization and "pseudofertilization" apparently provides the information defining the secondary, anterior-posterior body axis in many species. The central nervous system consists of three components: an apical organ, derived from the apical blastomeres 1a 111-1d111, which degenerates before or at metamorphosis; the cerebral ganglia derived from other blastomeres of the first micromere quartet and retained in the adult as a preoral part of the brain; and the originally circumblastoporal nerve cord, which has become differentiated into a perioral part of the brain, the paired or secondarily fused ventral nerve cords, and a small perianal nerve ring.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalActa Zoologica
    Volume91
    Issue number1
    Pages (from-to)20-28
    Number of pages9
    ISSN0001-7272
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jan 2010
    Event1st International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology - Copenhagen, Denmark
    Duration: 17 Aug 200821 Aug 2008

    Conference

    Conference1st International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology
    Country/TerritoryDenmark
    CityCopenhagen
    Period17/08/200821/08/2008

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