Developmental Biology:
Introduction & Overview
Adopted from:
Dr Neil Vargesson
DevBiol
• The objective of this course is to introduce you
to the processes underlying development.
• The big picture is to understand how animals
develop from a single cell to a multicellular
organism.
• We will explore the mechanisms controlling cell
behaviour and the formation of an embryo.
DevBiol
Course textbook:
Developmental Biology. 6th Ed.or newer. Gilbert,
S.F. 2000. Sinauer Inc. Pub.
What Can We Learn from Development?
Biologists study development for different reasons.
• One reason is to understand how a single cell (the
zygote) can produce the variety of body parts in an
organism.
• Another reason is the search for commonalities
among organisms.
• The division of the 32 multicellular animal phyla into
groups is simplified by an understanding of their
development.
Why study development?
development of structures
how normality arises
how abnormality ensues
positioning of adult structures
understand that several tissues form at same time,
requiring same genes (e.g. HOS) thus a defect in
one tissue can indicate defects elsewhere
Holt-Oram syndrome - heart/hand defects
Range of hand
Atrial septation defects
abnormalities
Phenotype due to mutation in one gene required at time
both structures develop… thus knowing relationship of
structure/organ development will aid in diagnoses!
Early Concepts: Preformation Versus Epigenesis
Aristotle 384BC - 322BC
Preformation is the concept of a miniature adult
being present in the sperm or egg, waiting to
unfold.
Some claimed they could see a miniature adult in
the egg or sperm (homunculus theory).
A young animal is merely unfolding the structures
that are already there.
Epigenesis is where new structures arose
progressively through a number of stages
In 1759, Kaspar Friederich Wolff showed there was
no preformed chick in the early egg.
-Undifferentiated granular material became
arranged into layers.
-The layers thickened, thinned, and folded to
produce the embryo.
-Epigenesis is the concept that the embryo
contains building materials that are assembled
progressively.
The Cell Theory - Schleiden and Schwann (1838)
Organisms are composed of cells, the basic
units of life.
Both animals and plants are multicellular
composites that arise from a single cell, thus,
development is epigenetic.
The fertilised egg is a specialised SINGLE cell
(zygote).
Only the germ cells (egg and sperm) pass on
characteristics on to the offspring.
Sea urchin expts showed two nuclei in egg - 1
from egg and 1 from sperm.
Determination and Regulation
Once recognized that cells in the embryo arose by
cell division - the question then emerged how do
cells become different from one another?
Determination: cell nuclei of the early embryo
contains determinants, that are distributed
unequally to daughter cells & control cells future
(mosaic).
Regulation: embryo can form normally even if
parts of the embryo are missing, implying cells
interact with each other.
Example of regulation in embryonic development
Induction
A cell, or tissue, directs the
development of another.
The importance of induction and other
cell-cell interactions was
demonstrated dramatically by Hans
Spemann and Hilde Mangold in 1924.
1940’s and 1960’s
o Genes shown to encode proteins and later such
proteins influence other genes.
o This finding finally linked genes with embryology!
o Since then, a huge explosion in genes/embryology.
We will discuss some examples as this course
progresses.
Today
A major goal of developmental biology is to
understand how genes control embryonic
development.
Model Organisms
Genetic control of development is studied in a
variety of animal models. These are chosen for
historical reasons, as well as ease of study and
biological interest.
Each has advantages and disadvantages and
most labs work with more than one model
organism, in order to gain the best insights.
Impact on Society
IVF
Teratology
Dietary advice
Chromosomal basis of birth defects
Screen for genetic mutations causing birth
defects
Future Impact
Understanding developmental mechanisms will aid in
designing therapies for cancer, diabetes etc
Animal models of human disease
Regeneration
Prenatal screening
Organ harvesting/transplantation
Embryonic stem cells
Cloning
Next…
Common Features in Development
Common Features of
Development I
Adopted from:
Dr Neil Vargesson
Typical animal life cycle and stages
Animal pole
Animal pole
Vegetal pole
Vegetal pole
anterior dorsal
Medio lateral
dorsal ventral ventral
posterior
Development from a single cell into a multicellular
organism is the most complicated fate a single cell
can undergo.
Development is essentially the emergence of
organized structures from an initially simple group
of cells
Yet, only a few basic principles are needed (for the
majority of animal organisms to form).
This and the next lecture describe these common
features or principles…
All (or nearly all) animal embryos have the following
features:
1. Cleavage/cell division: the process by which a single-celled
zygote divides into smaller units, blastomeres.
2. Morphogenesis - at various developmental time-points
embryos undergo changes on 3D form - the most striking
changes in form are (i) gastrulation: the process by which
the embryo forms different tissue layers from which future
organs will be built; (ii) neurulation; (iii) coelom formation.
3. Regional specification or pattern formation - where pattern
appears in a previously similar population of cells and
initially involves laying down of a body plan eg: A-P axis
4. Cell differentiation - where different sorts of cells arise - more
than 200 types in a vertebrate body.
5. Growth - increase in size.
Eg: pattern formation in early development specifies differences
between cells that lead to changes in form, cell
differentiation, and growth.
It is gene expression that controls all these processes, changing
patterns of gene expression during early development
change cell identities, giving rise to their future behaviour.
Development is a Series of Progressive Changes
This begins when a fertilised egg divides mitotically.
Specialisation occurs as a hierarchy of developmental
decisions.
Cell types do not unfold but arise from conditions created in
preceding stages.
Interactions become increasingly restrictive; each stage limits
developmental fate.
With each new stage, cells lose the option to become
something different–it becomes determined.
Both cytoplasmic localization and induction cause this
feature.
Gametes:
Male germ cell – sperm or spermatozoa
Female germ cell – secondary oocyte
Meiosis - haploid chromosone number
Fertilisation - diploid chromosone number
Maternal and paternal chromosones are
the blueprint for a new individual
Meiosis leads to the haploid number
of chromosones
Meiosis ensures no two offspring of parents are genetically
identical
Spermatogenesis Oogenesis
Fertilisation
Fertilisation is the union of male and female gametes.
Fertilisation provides for recombination of paternal and
maternal genes, restoring the diploid number.
Fertilisation activates the egg to begin development.
Fertilisation
requires the
Acrosome
reaction
Prevention of Polyspermy
Polyspermy, the entry of more than one sperm,
would cause a triploid nucleus.
Important changes in the egg surface block
entrance to any additional sperm.
In the sea urchin, an electrical potential rapidly
spreads across the membrane; this is the fast
block.
This is followed by the cortical reaction, where
enzymatic and metabolic changes trigger
cytoplasmic rearrangements
Fusion of Pronuclei and Egg Activation
After sperm and egg membranes have fused, the sperm
disconnects from its flagellum.
The enlarged sperm nucleus is the male pronucleus and
migrates inward to contact the female pronucleus.
Fusion forms a diploid nucleus.
Nuclear fusion takes 12 minutes in sea urchins; about 12
hours in mammals.
The fertilised egg is now properly called a zygote.
Fertilisation initiates reorganisation of cytoplasm and
repositions determinants that begin development and
cleavage.
A typical zygote is small, spherical and polarized along
vertical axis, establishes the direction of cleavage and
differentiation.
Upper hemisphere = animal hemisphere (or pole)
Lower hemisphere = vegetal hemisphere (or pole) and is
rich in yolk.
Early cell divisions are called cleavages
The embryo undergoes cleavage to convert the large
cytoplasmic mass into small maneuverable cells
(blastomeres).
No cell growth occurs, only subdivision until cells reach
regular somatic cell size.
Xenopus cleavage
Different animal groups undergo different amounts of
cleavage.
Eg:
At the end of cleavage, polychaete worms have 1000 cells,
amphioxus has 9000, and frogs have 700,000.
Different animal groups use different types of cleavage to
obtain the ball of cells (BLASTULA) that will eventually
produce an adult organism.
The types of cleavage
a - when cleavage complete and egg is divided into blastomeres.
b - eg chick where cytoplasm located at animal pole and only this region cleaves
c - eg: insects and crustaceans
d - eg: mammals
e - eg: molluscs, worms
Human cleavage and blastula formation
30hr 48hr
4
3 days days
4.5-5 6
days days
Gastrulation
After blastula formation, almost all animal
embryos undergo GASTRULATION. This process
varies in different species, but is essentially
produces the same outcome.
A phase of cell movements occurs that converts
the ball (mammal) or sheet of cells (bird/fish) into
a three layered structure = GASTRULA.
These three layers are the GERM LAYERS
The bilaminar disc (approx 9 days)
Blastocyst Embryo Foetus
Formation of a trilaminar embryo: Gastrulation
Day 15/16
Gastrulation and germ layer formation
Neurulation
Formation of a neural tube -
develops into brain and spinal cord.
Slight differences between species,
but essentially produces the CNS
Early in development embryos of
different species look very similar.
Fish, chick, mouse used as model genetic systems to study
human diseases – as genes used for development are the same
After completion of the
major morphogenetic
processes, most types of
animal embryo have a body
plan, but the body is yet to
differentiate. This is also
known as the phylotypic
stage
Next lecture:
Common features of development II - review of this lecture,
then onto Axes, symmetry, morphogenetic processes, growth,
death and the role of the genes.
