Cytoplasmic determinants in amphioxus and ascidian embryos
Implantation of specific regions of archenteron roof in salamander embryos.
Mouse notochord formation
Drosophila life cycle
A-P regionalization of NC
Specification of arteries vs. veins


 

Introduction to Embryology is the first of three Molecular Developmental Biology modules offered this semester.  The module is designed to give a broad-based overview of the subject, bringing students up to speed and optimizing learning from modules 2 and 3. The goals of module 1 are to teach essential terms and concepts, wherever possible moving rapidly from classical descriptive and experimental embryology to recent findings that have high impact at the molecular and mechanistic levels.  Classes will be taught by one of the following researchers with topic expertise:

Christopher Wright (Coordinator and Instructor )
Professor - Cell and Developmental Biology 
Daniela Drummond-Barbosa (Instructor)
Assistant Professor - Cell and Developmental Biology
Maureen Gannon (Instructor)
Assistant Professor - Medicine and Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Anna Means (Instructor)
Assistant Professor - Surgery and Cell and Developmental Biology
(For more information about BIOS341 please contact the Course Coordinator)

It is recommended that enrollees of CBIO 341 obtain a copy of Gilbert's Developmental Biology 8th Edition, which is used extensively throughout the class for reading assignments. To download an outline or reading click on the appropriate class topic or citation title.  Please note that presentations may continue to be modified until the presentation date.

The Module 1 Exam is now available. 
Please follow the exam directions carefully since any exam
that does not adhere to the criteria will be returned to you. 
Exams must be returned to Kim Kane no later than Thursday, February 15, 2007.

Class Date
Topics, Presentations & Readings
1/09/07 Class & Module Overview (Wright)      Start Time - 2:30 pm
1/11/07 General Introduction to Embryology (Gannon)     Outline  
 
  • Vertebrate body plan
  • Cleavage
  • Principles of gastrulation
  • Regulative versus mosaic development
  • Induction
    Substitution Slide: specification vs. determination
1/16/07 Frog & Zebrafish Gastrulation  (Wright)
 
  • Animal/vegetal axis
  • Setting up of gray crescent, dorsal/ventral axes
  • Fate mapping
  • Convergence/extension (compare/contrast with zebrafish)
  • Cleavage events
  • Shield/organizer
  • Dorsal specification
1/18/07
Mouse Gastrulation (Wright)
 
  • Extraembryonic vs. embryonic tissues
  • AVE/axis formation
  • Primitive streak formation (compare/contrast with chick)
  • Embryonic turning
    Additional Slide: gastrulation cells moving through streak
    Reading: Axis Development and Early Asymmetry in Animals
1/23/07
Fly Development I (Drummond-Barbosa)    Outline
 
  • Drosophila embryonic development
  • Embryonic patterning - anterior-posterior polarity
  • Embryonic patterning - dorsal-ventral polarity
Reading 1
The genetics of axis specification in Drosophila. 
Gilbert, Developmental Biology, 7th Edition, Chapter 9
Reading 2
The bicoid protein determines position in the drosophila embryo in a concentration-dependent manner. 
1988 Cell 54: 95-104
Reading 3
Pattern formation: the eggshell holds the cue. 
2003 Current Biology 13(13): R508-R510
Reading 4
A serpin regulates dorsal-ventral axis formation in the drosophila embryo.
2003 Current Biology 13: 2097-2102
1/25/07
Fly Development II (Drummond-Barbosa)     Outline
 
  • Segmentation
  • Summary and highlights
Reading 1
The genetics of axis specification in Drosophila. 
Gilbert, Developmental Biology, 7th Edition, Chapter 9
Reading 2
Segmentation: painting striped from flies to vertebrates. 
1998 Developmental Genetics 21: 1-10
Reading 3
Generating patterns from fields of cells. Examples from Drosophila segmentation.
2001 EMBO 2(12): 1083-1088
1/26/07 A Special Lecture by Scott Fraser, Ph.D.
 
  • Imaging the Developmental Mechanics of the Vertebrate Embryo
1/30/07 Ectodermal Derivatives  (Means)     Outline
 
  • Neurulation
  • Dorsal/ventral patterning of the neural tube
  • Neural crest
  • Rhombomeres (A/P Patterning)
Reading 1
Early development and axis formation in amphibians  
Gilbert, Developmental Biology, 7th Edition, Chapter 10 (pages 332-336)
Reading 2

The emergence of the ectoderm: central nervous system and epidermis
Gilbert, Developmental Biology, 7th Edition, Chapter 12

Reading 3
Neural crest cells and axonal specificity
Gilbert, Developmental Biology, 7th Edition, Chapter 13
Reading 4
Neuronal specification in the spinal cord: inductive signals and transcriptional codes
2000 Nature Reviews 1: 20-29
2/01/07 Module 1 Review and Relevant Papers Discussion
2/06/07 Mesodermal Derivatives  (Gannon)  Outline
 
  • Axial, lateral, intermediate
  • Somatic, splanchinc
  • Patterning of the somites
Reading 1
The eventful somite: patterning, fate determination and cell division in the somite
2006 Anat Embryol 211: S21-30
2/08/07 Endodermal Derivatives (Means)
 
  • Anterior/posterior patterning
  • Branching morphogenesis
  • Communication with mesoderm

 

 Readings
The Module 1 Exam will be distributed on February 8, 2007 and is
DUE by February 14, 2007
 

 

  

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Copyright 2004, Educational Technology, Biomedical Research Education & Training
 Last modified: Thursday, February 8, 2007 by Kim.Kane@vanderbilt.edu