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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Functional Evaluation of Olfactory Pathways in Living Xenopus Tadpoles

Functional Evaluation of Olfactory Pathways in Living Xenopus Tadpoles

Published on: December 11, 2018

Competence, specification and commitment to an olfactory placode fate.

Sujata Bhattacharyya¹, Marianne Bronner-Fraser

¹Division of Biology, 139-74, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.

Development (Cambridge, England)

|November 26, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Early olfactory placode development involves signals specifying competent ectoderm, followed by gradual commitment before morphological differentiation. This research tracks olfactory precursor maturation using molecular labels.

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A Molecular Readout of Long-term Olfactory Adaptation in C. elegans

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Functional Evaluation of Olfactory Pathways in Living Xenopus Tadpoles

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Published on: December 11, 2018

A Molecular Readout of Long-term Olfactory Adaptation in C. elegans

A Molecular Readout of Long-term Olfactory Adaptation in C. elegans

Published on: December 22, 2012

Area of Science:

Developmental biology
Neuroscience
Genetics

Background:

The nasal placode originates from the pre-placodal domain at the cranial neural plate border.
Early development and segregation of olfactory precursors from other tissues remain poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the early molecular events and temporal dynamics of nasal placode development.
To identify key stages of olfactory precursor specification and commitment.

Main Methods:

Utilized molecular markers (Dlx3, Dlx5, Pax6, Hu) to track olfactory precursor maturation.
Employed ectodermal grafting experiments to assess developmental competence.
Performed heterotopic transplantation of olfactory progenitors to evaluate autonomous differentiation potential.

Main Results:

Ectodermal competence for olfactory placode formation is initially broad in head ectoderm but declines rapidly.
Olfactory precursors are specified by Hamburger-Hamilton stage 10 (HH10), coinciding with segregation from other progenitors.
Progenitors gain autonomous differentiation capacity approximately 12 hours before placode invagination at HH14.

Conclusions:

Olfactory placode development is a stepwise process initiated by signals from adjacent tissues.
Specification occurs at or before HH10, followed by gradual commitment preceding morphological differentiation.