Primitive streak of vertebrates

SnapShot: Mouse Primitive Streak

Transcriptomic landscape of the primitive streak.

In birds and mammals, all mesoderm cells are generated from the primitive streak. Nascent mesoderm cells contain unique dorsoventral (D/V) identities according to their relative ingression position along the streak. Molecular mechanisms controlling this initial phase of mesoderm diversification are not well understood. Using the chick model, we generated high-quality transcriptomic datasets of ...

Cell movement during chick primitive streak formation.

Gastrulation in amniotes begins with extensive re-arrangements of cells in the epiblast resulting in the formation of the primitive streak. We have developed a transfection method that enables us to transfect randomly distributed epiblast cells in the Stage XI-XIII chick blastoderms with GFP fusion proteins. This allows us to use time-lapse microscopy for detailed analysis of the movements and ...

The in vitro culture of primitive-streak-stage mouse embryos.

The in vitro growth and morphogenesis of mouse embryos from early primitive-streak stage to early-somite stage is described. The embryo culture method employs a static culture system, a conventional chemically defined medium (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium), supplemented with additional glucose, glutamine and suitably prepared serum. The method of serum preparation is important for successf...

A model of primitive streak initiation in the chick embryo.

Initiation of the primitive streak in avian embryos provides a well-studied example of a pattern-forming event that displays a striking capacity for regulation. The mechanisms underlying the regulative properties are, however, poorly understood and are not easily accounted for by traditional models of pattern formation, such as reaction-diffusion models. In this paper, we propose a new activato...