Tic-Toc Segmentation Clock

摘要

Molecular oscillators are an essential component of vertebrate segmentation, but whether they exist in segmented animals in general has been controversial for almost a decade. Sarrazin et al. (p. 338, published online 8 March; see the Perspective by Roth and Panfilio) demonstrate the existence of a segmentation clock in the growth zone of insects. Microsurgical manipulation and embryo culture revealed cyclic expression of the segmentation gene Tc-odd in the beetle Tribotium castaneum, which suggests that segmentation clocks are a widely shared mechanism that mediates animal segmentation.