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Tag team specification of a neural precursor in the Drosophila embryonic central nervous system
Author(s) -
Skeath James B.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950171002
Subject(s) - biology , embryonic stem cell , neural stem cell , neural cell , nervous system , lineage (genetic) , neuroscience , vertebrate , neural development , progenitor cell , function (biology) , central nervous system , stem cell , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , genetics
The development of vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems requires the production of thousands to millions of uniquely specified neurons from progenitor neural stem cells. A central question focuses on the elucidation of the developmental mechanisms that function within neural stem cell lineages to impart unique identities to neurons. A recent report (1) details the roles that two genes, pdm‐1 and pdm‐2 , play within an identified neural stem cell lineage in the Drosophila embryonic central nervous system. The results show that pdm‐1 and pdm‐2 are coexpressed in an identified neural precursor and function redundantly to specify the fate of this cell. As such this report offers an initial view of the genetic programs that create neural diversity.