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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Mar 15.
Published in final edited form as: Dev Biol. 2012 Dec 12;375(2):117–127. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2012.12.002

Figure 6. Tailbud exit requires expression of spadetail in combination with BMP inhibition or with Nodal signaling.

Figure 6

Spadetail, Nodal signaling and BMP inhibition are required for MPCs to properly exit the tailbud to form muscle cells. oep and chd mutant MPCs are able to exit the tailbud and form somites. spt mutants are only able to form tail somites while trunk somite precursors remain trapped in their tailbud. Nodal and Chordin each act in conjunction with Spadetail to control this process. Loss of oep and chd in spadetail mutants results in the inability to form somites. However, oep and chd seem to be using independent mechanisms, with Chordin's crucial role in this process being to inhibit BMP signaling.