RELIABLE SEGMENTATION BY SUCCESSIVE BIFURCATION

摘要

In many organisms, a reliable number of segments is produced even though important properties of the region involved, especially its size at the time of pattern formation, are apparently not specified with sufficient precision. We show that this can be readily accomplished if segmentation occurs through a sequence of bifurcations rather than all at once, and we provide evidence from developmental studies that indicates that this is typically what actually occurs. Our results strongly suggest that where patterns are formed reliably, this generally happens in stages rather than by the setting up in advance of a complete prepattern.