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Species-specific developmental timing dictates expansion of the avian wing skeletal pattern

View ORCID ProfileHolly Stainton, View ORCID ProfileMatthew Towers
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.22.436457
Holly Stainton
1, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
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Matthew Towers
1, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
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Abstract

A fundamental question in biology is how species-specific rates of embryonic development are controlled in differently sized species. To address this problem, we compared wing development in the quail and the larger chick. We reveal that pattern formation (humerus to digits) is faster in the quail wing as determined by the earlier activation of 5’ Hox genes, termination of developmental organisers (Shh and Fgf8) and the laying down of the skeleton (Sox9). Using interspecies tissue grafts, we show that developmental timing can be reset during a critical window in which retinoic acid signalling is active. Accordingly, retinoic acid can switch developmental timing between the quail and chick, and also between the chick and the larger turkey. We show that the incremental growth rate is equivalent between all three species, suggesting that differences in the expansion of the skeletal pattern are governed primarily by the tempo of development. Our findings have implications for how development is timed both within and between different species.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • ↵* E-mail m.towers{at}sheffield.ac.uk

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted May 03, 2021.
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Species-specific developmental timing dictates expansion of the avian wing skeletal pattern
Holly Stainton, Matthew Towers
bioRxiv 2021.03.22.436457; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.22.436457
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Species-specific developmental timing dictates expansion of the avian wing skeletal pattern
Holly Stainton, Matthew Towers
bioRxiv 2021.03.22.436457; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.22.436457

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