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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Population Replacement Strategies for Controlling Vector Populations and the Use of Wolbachia pipientis for Genetic Drive
Published on: July 4, 2007
Transcriptionally dynamic progenitor populations organised around a stable niche drive axial patterning
Filip J Wymeersch1,2, Stavroula Skylaki3, Yali Huang1
1MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 5 Little France Drive, Edinburgh EH16 4UU, UK.
Abstract:
The elongating mouse anteroposterior axis is supplied by progenitors with distinct tissue fates. It is not known whether these progenitors confer anteroposterior pattern to the embryo. We have analysed the progenitor population transcriptomes in the mouse primitive streak and tail bud throughout axial elongation. Transcriptomic signatures distinguish three known progenitor types (neuromesodermal, lateral/paraxial mesoderm and notochord progenitors; NMPs, LPMPs and NotoPs). Both NMP and LPMP transcriptomes change extensively over time. In particular, NMPs upregulate Wnt, Fgf and Notch signalling components, and many Hox genes as progenitors transit from production of the trunk to the tail and expand in number. In contrast, the transcriptome of NotoPs is stable throughout axial elongation and they are required for normal axis elongation. These results suggest that NotoPs act as a progenitor niche whereas anteroposterior patterning originates within NMPs and LPMPs.
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Transcription is the process of synthesizing RNA from a DNA sequence by RNA polymerase. It is the first step in producing a protein from a gene sequence. Additionally, many other proteins and regulatory sequences are involved in the proper synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA). Regulation of transcription is responsible for the differentiation of all the different types of cells and often for the proper cellular response to environmental signals.
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