Persistence of rhombomeric organisation in the postsegmental hindbrain

Rhombomeres are morphological varicosities of the neural tube that are present between embryonic day (E) 1.5 and E5 and are characterised by compartment organisation, segmentally neuronal organisation and spatially restricted patterns of gene expression. After E5, the segmented origins of the hindbrain become indistinct, while the adult hindbrain has an longitudinal columnar nuclear organisation. In order to assess the impact of the early transverse pattern on later longitudinal organisation, we have used orthotopic quail grafts and in situ hybridisation to investigate the long-term fate of rhombomeres in the embryonic chick hindbrain. The uniformity of mixing between quail and chick cells was first verified using short-term aggregation cultures. The dispersal of the progeny of individual rhombomeres (r) was then assessed by the unilateral, isochronic and orthotopic transplantation of either r2, r3, r4, r5 or r6 from quail to chick at embryonic day E2. In addition, orthotopic, partial rhombomere grafts, encompassing an inter-rhombomere boundary and adjacent rhombomere bodies were used to assess cell mixing within rhombomeres. Operated embryos were incubated to either E7 or E10 when chimaeric brains were removed. Quail cells were identified in whole mounts or serial sections using the quail-specific antibody QCPN. Subsequently, radial glia morphology was assessed either by immunohistochemistry or DiI labelling. A series of fixed hindbrains between E6 and E9 were probed for transcripts of Hoxa-2 and Hoxb-1. Fate-mapping reveals that the progeny of individual rhombomeres form stripes of cells running dorsoventrally through the hindbrain. This pattern of dispersal precisely parallels the array of radial glia. Although the postmitotic progeny of adjacent rhombomeres spread to some extent into each others' territory in intermediate and marginal zones, there is little or no mixing between rhombomeres in the ventricular zone, which thus remains compartmentalised long after the rhombomeric morphology disappears. Segmental gene expression within this layer is also maintained after E5. A more detailed analysis of mixing between proliferating cells, using partial rhombomere grafts, reveals that both mixing and growth are non-uniform within the ventricular layer, suggesting, in particular, that longitudinal expansion within this layer is restricted. Together, these observations suggest that rhombomeres do not disappear at E5, as has previously been supposed, rather they persist in the ventricular zone to at least E9, ensuring a continuity in the presumed segmental cues that specify neuroepithelial cells in the hindbrain.