Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Gastrulation

Gastrulation

Gastrulation establishes the three primary tissues of an embryo: the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. This developmental process relies on a series of intricate cellular movements, which in humans transforms a flat, “bilaminar disc” composed of two cell sheets into a three-tiered structure. In the resulting embryo, the endoderm serves as the bottom layer, and stacked directly above it is the intermediate mesoderm, and then the uppermost ectoderm. Respectively, these tissue strata will form...

Neurulation

Neurulation

Neurulation is the embryological process which forms the precursors of the central nervous system and occurs after gastrulation has established the three primary cell layers of the embryo: ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. In humans, the majority of this system is formed via primary neurulation, in which the central portion of the ectoderm—originally appearing as a flat sheet of cells—folds upwards and inwards, sealing off to form a hollow neural tube. As development proceeds, the anterior...

Cleavage and Blastulation

Cleavage and Blastulation

After a large-single-celled zygote is produced via fertilization, the process of cleavage occurs while zygotes travel through the uterine tube. Cleavage is a mitotic cell division that does not result in growth. With each round of successive cell division, daughter cells get increasingly smaller.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Hierarchical woven fibrillar structures in developing single gyroids in butterflies.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Same author

Lepidopteran scale cells derive from sensory organ precursors through a canonical lineage.

Development (Cambridge, England)·2025

Same author

Elucidating nanostructural organization and photonic properties of butterfly wing scales using hyperspectral microscopy.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2024

Same author

A Novel Expression Domain of extradenticle Underlies the Evolutionary Developmental Origin of the Chelicerate Patella.

Molecular biology and evolution·2024

Same author

A novel expression domain of <i>extradenticle</i> underlies the evolutionary developmental origin of the chelicerate patella.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2024

Same author

A meta-analysis of butterfly structural colors: their color range, distribution and biological production.

The Journal of experimental biology·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 28, 2026

Ablation of a Single Cell From Eight-cell Embryos of the Amphipod Crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis

Ablation of a Single Cell From Eight-cell Embryos of the Amphipod Crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis

Published on: March 16, 2014

The functional relationship between ectodermal and mesodermal segmentation in the crustacean, Parhyale hawaiensis.

Roberta L Hannibal¹, Alivia L Price, Nipam H Patel

¹Departments of Molecular and Cell Biology and Integrative Biology, University of California - Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Developmental Biology

|November 1, 2011

Summary

In crustaceans like Parhyale hawaiensis, the ectoderm independently segments, while mesoderm segmentation requires ectodermal signals. This suggests ectodermal segmentation is ancestral in pancrustaceans.

More Related Videos

Stem cell-like Xenopus Embryonic Explants to Study Early Neural Developmental Features In Vitro and In Vivo

Stem cell-like Xenopus Embryonic Explants to Study Early Neural Developmental Features In Vitro and In Vivo

Published on: February 2, 2016

In Situ Hybridization Techniques for Paraffin-Embedded Adult Coral Samples

In Situ Hybridization Techniques for Paraffin-Embedded Adult Coral Samples

Published on: August 31, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 28, 2026

Ablation of a Single Cell From Eight-cell Embryos of the Amphipod Crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis

Ablation of a Single Cell From Eight-cell Embryos of the Amphipod Crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis

Published on: March 16, 2014

Stem cell-like Xenopus Embryonic Explants to Study Early Neural Developmental Features In Vitro and In Vivo

Stem cell-like Xenopus Embryonic Explants to Study Early Neural Developmental Features In Vitro and In Vivo

Published on: February 2, 2016

In Situ Hybridization Techniques for Paraffin-Embedded Adult Coral Samples

In Situ Hybridization Techniques for Paraffin-Embedded Adult Coral Samples

Published on: August 31, 2018

Area of Science:

Developmental biology
Evolutionary developmental biology
Comparative embryology

Background:

Segmentation is a fundamental developmental process observed across diverse animal phyla, including arthropods and chordates.
In vertebrates, mesoderm segmentation is autonomous, inducing ectodermal patterning, whereas in Drosophila, ectoderm segmentation is autonomous.
The ancestral tissue responsible for primary segmentation in bilaterians remains debated, with conflicting evidence from vertebrates and insects.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the intrinsic segmentation capabilities of the ectoderm and mesoderm in the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis.
To determine the relationship between ectodermal and mesodermal segmentation in arthropods.
To infer the ancestral state of germ layer segmentation in Pancrustacea.

Main Methods:

Experimental ablation of either the ectoderm or mesoderm in Parhyale hawaiensis embryos.
Assaying for segmentation in the remaining tissue layer post-ablation.
Analyzing cell division, migration, and expression of segmentation markers (Ph-twist, Ph-Even-skipped) in mesodermal cells.

Main Results:

The ectoderm of Parhyale hawaiensis demonstrates autonomous segmentation.
Mesoderm segmentation in Parhyale hawaiensis is dependent on signals from the ectoderm.
In the absence of ectoderm, mesodermal stem cells divide but fail to migrate correctly and their progeny do not segment or express key markers.

Conclusions:

Segmentation is primarily an ectodermal property in Pancrustacea, as evidenced by Parhyale hawaiensis and holometabolan insects.
The ancestral segmentation mechanism in arthropods likely involved autonomous ectodermal segmentation.
This finding contributes to understanding the evolution of body plan segmentation across animal lineages.