Development of Multicellular Organisms

What are the three fundamental processes essential for animal development, starting from a single fertilized egg?

During gastrulation, the embryo is transformed into a multilayered structure. Which germ layer is responsible for giving rise to the entire vascular system, including the heart, blood vessels, and blood cells?

What is the term for the developmental process where a cell's potential narrows, leading it to a specific fate, such as becoming a liver cell but no longer a kidney cell?

What is the primary source of the dramatic morphological differences observed between different classes of animals, such as vertebrates and insects?

What is the phenomenon called where a signal molecule, diffusing from a localized source, creates a concentration gradient that directs cells at different distances to adopt different fates?

In Drosophila embryogenesis, what is the role of the maternal-effect gene product Bicoid?

What is the primary function of homeotic selector (Hox) genes in animal development?

The arrangement of Hox genes on the chromosome exhibits a remarkable property known as colinearity. What does this mean?

How do Polycomb and Trithorax group proteins contribute to developmental memory, particularly in relation to Hox gene expression?

In the vertebrate embryo, the dorsoventral (D-V) axis is patterned by a competition between which two types of secreted signaling proteins?

What is the function of the segmentation clock, which involves oscillating gene expression in the presomitic mesoderm of vertebrate embryos?

What is the approximate cycle time of the segmentation clock in a chick embryo, which corresponds to the formation of one new pair of somites?

In the nematode C. elegans, what type of molecules are encoded by the heterochronic genes Lin4 and Let7, which are crucial for controlling developmental timing?

What is vernalization in plants?

What is the morphogenetic process called where a population of cells rearranges by intercalating, causing the tissue to narrow along one axis and elongate along another?

What is the primary role of Myostatin, a member of the TGF-beta family, in the context of organ growth?

Which intracellular signaling pathway, primarily controlled by mechanical forces and cell architecture, is a key regulator of organ size by controlling cell proliferation and survival?

What is the primary factor accounting for the vast difference in adult body mass between a mouse and a human?

How do pentaploid salamanders maintain the same overall body size as diploid salamanders, despite having cells that are about five times larger?

What is endoreplication?

What is the key event that triggers the formation of the dorsoventral (D-V) axis in a Xenopus frog embryo?

In the early Drosophila embryo, what is the consequence of its syncytial nature for cell-cell communication?

In the hierarchy of Drosophila segmentation genes, which group acts first to establish coarse anterior-posterior subdivisions of the embryo?

What is the typical phenotype of a Drosophila mutant for a pair-rule gene like Even-skipped?

The Drosophila signaling proteins Wingless and Hedgehog are expressed in adjacent bands of cells within each segment. What is the nature of their interaction?

What is the consequence of artificially expressing the master transcription regulator Eyeless (or its homolog Pax6) in the leg precursors of a Drosophila?

How do C. elegans heterochronic mutants like those affecting Lin14 provide insight into developmental timing?

How is the maternal-zygotic transition (MZT), the point where the embryonic genome takes over control of development, timed in many animal embryos?

What is the primary mechanism that drives the bending of an epithelial sheet into a tube, such as during neural tube formation?

How is cell migration often guided in the embryo, for example in the case of primordial germ cells moving toward the developing gonads?

What is the role of Stem cell factor (SCF) and its receptor Kit in the development of neural crest cells?

What does the phenomenon of planar cell polarity refer to?

The evolution of pelvic spine loss in freshwater stickleback fish is a well-studied example of morphological change. What is the specific genetic basis for this change?

How many Hox gene complexes are typically found in mice and humans?

What happens in a Drosophila embryo if all the Hox genes are deleted?

What is the function of the 'Organizer' in an amphibian embryo, as demonstrated by classic transplantation experiments?

How does the negative feedback loop involving Hes genes generate the oscillations of the vertebrate segmentation clock?

In Drosophila neuroblast development, what mechanism ensures that different types of neurons are produced in a stereotyped sequence over time?

What is the primary role of the noncoding RNA 'Coolair' in the regulation of flowering in Arabidopsis?

In the developing chick hindbrain, what mechanism prevents cells from adjacent rhombomeres from mixing?

What is the primary role of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) in mammalian growth?

What is the consequence of a gain-of-function mutation in the Ubx (Ultrabithorax) gene in the second thoracic segment of a Drosophila?

What is the typical number of population doublings after which normal human fibroblasts enter replicative cell senescence when grown in culture?

In the development of sensory bristles in Drosophila, what mechanism ensures that only a single sensory organ precursor cell is selected from a cluster of equivalent epidermal cells?

How does the Numb protein contribute to creating different daughter cell fates during the asymmetric division of a Drosophila sensory organ precursor?

What is the primary determinant of cell size in most organisms?

How many germ layers are formed during gastrulation, and what are their names?

What is the typical cell shape in a stable two-dimensional epithelial sheet, and what forces determine this arrangement?

In branching morphogenesis, such as in the developing lung, what is the role of the signaling molecule FGF10?

What is the typical lifespan of somatic cells in the worm C. elegans after they are generated?