Vertebrate Pattern Formation, Volume 159 in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series, highlights advances in the field, with this volume presenting interesting chapters on timely topics, including Hox genes patterning the vertebrate body, Endodermal patterning, The use of organoids/gastruloids to understand development, Cell shape and movements controlling development, Neural crest and placodes in vertebrate development, Patterning of the neural tube, Non-canonical Wnt signaling in axial extension, The control of transitions along the main body axis, Emergence of a left-right symmetric body plan in vertebrate embryos, Formation of the vascular system, Generation of patterns in the paraxial mesoderm, and more. Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors Presents the latest release in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series Updated release includes the latest information on the Vertebrate Pattern Formation

Following pioneering work by Harrison on amphibian limbs in the 1920s and by Saunders (1948) on the apical ridge in chick limbs, limb development became a classical model system for investigating such fundamental developmental issues as tissue interactions and induction, and the control of pattern formation. Earlier international conferences, at Grenoble 1972, Glasgow 1976,and Storrs, Connecticut 1982, reflected the interests and technology of their time. Grenoble was concerned with ectoderm-mesenchyme interaction, but by the time of the Glasgow meeting, the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA) and its role in control of patterning was the dominant theme. Storrs produced the first intimations that the ZPA could be mimicked by retinoic acid (RA), but the diversity of extracellular masrix ~olecules,particularly in skeletogenesis,was the main focus of attention. By 1990, the paradigms had again shifted. Originally, the planners of the ARW saw retinoic acid (as a possible morphogen controlling skeletal patterning), the variety of extracellular matrix components and their roles, and the developmental basis of limb evolution as the leading contemporary topics. However, as planning proceeded, it was clear that the new results emerging from the use of homeobox gene probes (first developed to investigate the genetic control of patterning of Drosophila embryos) to analyse the localised expression of "patterning genes" in limb buds would also be an important theme.

This book vividly describes how complex and integrated movements can arise from the properties and behaviors of biological molecules. It provides a uniquely integrated account in which the latest findings from biophysics and molecular biology are put into the context of living cells. This second edition is updated throughout with recent advances in the field and has a completely revised and redrawn art program. The text is suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and for professionals wishing for an overview of this field.

Authored by leading experts in the field, this book provides the first comprehensive overview of the mechanisms of early patterning and morphogenesis in zebrafish. It summarizes the current knowledge and the key questions for the next decade of research.