Expression of csal1 in pre limb-bud chick embryos

The spalt family of transcriptional repressors has been implicated in limb, heart, ear and kidney development and truncating mutations in a human gene, SALL1, result in the autosomal dominant disorder Townes-Brocks syndrome. Here we show the expression pattern of the chick orthologue of the SALL1 gene, csal1, during early development. We found csal1 expression in the heart and in the pharynx, a source of inductive signals during heart development. Expression was also seen in involuting mesoderm and later in presegmented paraxial mesoderm. We also describe expression in the ectoderm and neural plate of the early embryo and subsequent expression in the neural tube.