Transcript Slide 1

Classification of developing
structures
•Developing structures are typically classified by
developmental biologists according to their fate.
•If such terms are to find a home in CARO, they also
need a structural definition
Developing structures that are
structurally types of tissue(?)
FMA Definition of tissue
• Anatomical structure which consist of
similarly specialized cells and intracellular
matrix, aggregated according to
genetically determined spatial
relationships.
anlage (synonym: field (?))
Contiguous tissue contributing all or the majority of its
cells to one or a few mature structures but not (yet)
having distinct morphological boundaries.
% determinate anlage
Contiguous tissue contributing all of its cells to one or a
few mature structures but not (yet) having distinct
morphological boundaries.
% non-determinate anlage
Contiguous tissue defined by lineage labelling as
contributing the majority of its cells to some specified
mature structure but not (yet) having distinct
morphological boundaries.
(Also inclusive and specific, as for promordium - see next slide…
but this is tangled !!!!)
Primordium (synonym: rudiment (?))
Contiguous tissue contributing all of its cells to one or a
few mature structures and having morphologically
distinct boundaries.
% inclusive primordium
Contiguous tissue contributing all of its cells to a few
mature structures and having morphologically
distinct boundaries.
% specific primordium
Contiguous tissue contributing all of its cells to a
single mature structure and having morphologically
boundaries.
Note – anlage, primordium distinction is largely down to presence of
boundaries, should this be reflected in different structural
categories?
germ layer
Primary division of embryo established just prior to &/or
during gastrulation. Initially constituting a contiguous
tissue contributing all of its cells a large but limited set of
mature anatomical structure.
is_a ectoderm
is_a endoderm
is_a mesoderm
…
compartment
Contiguous tissue consisting of cells unable to cross a
*compartment boundary* to mix with cells in a
neighbouring tissue with which it is contiguous during
development.
Developing structures that can be
structurally defined as anatomical
sets (?)
Germ layer derivative
An anatomical structure which is derived from the a single germlayer.
% mesodermal derivative
an anatomical structure derived from the mesoderm.
Notes:
1. individual anlage and primordia can be is_a children of
these terms.
2. At what stage, if any, do we stop classifying developing
structures in this way?
Developing X terms
These terms have multiple primordia and anlage as
parts. Different parts are instantiated at different
stages.
Developing system (e.g.- developing nervous
system)
Developing (cardinal) body part – e.g.- developing
head
Developing organ (e.g.- developing brain)
Miscellaneous structural types of
developing structure
Mesenchyme
Not defined by developmental fate or potential. Perhaps better
defined purely structurally?
[Note – mesenchyme is a mass noun (as opposed to a count noun –
like neuron. Should be referred to as ‘portion of mesenchyme’
according to Barry.]
compartment boundary
(Genus is_a 'anatomical line' (?))
A boundary that cuts across a contiguous tissue separating it into
two groups of cells that do not mix during development.
Compartment boundaries have few, if any, morphological correlates,
at least while they function as barriers.
Differentia
Note that there are two types of fate based differentia
working to define these terms:
1.
2.
Is the fate mapping probablistic (some defined
percentage of cells in the structure have a specific
fate) or deterministic (all the cells in the structure have
a specific fate)
Will the structure contribute to 1 (more) mature
structures, or multiple (more) mature structures.
Can we cope with these while keeping is_a siblings
disjoint?