During gastrulation, morphogenetic movements establish the three embryonic cell layers. In sea urchins, secondary mesenchyme cells (SMC) at the vegetal pole trigger the formation of the archenteron, the central cavity of the gastrula that later develops into the primitive gut. On p. 547, Croce and co-workers report that a newly identified sea urchin Wnt receptor –Frizzled (Fz) 5/8 – is required in SMCs to control archenteron invagination. They show that Fz5/8 is expressed only in the animal domain and in the SMCs during sea urchin embryogenesis. Loss-of-function analyses indicate that Fz5/8 is not involved in the early specification of embryonic cell types but is required to control the primary invagination of the archenteron, which it does through the non-canonical planar cell polarity pathway of Wnt signalling. The researchers suggest that Fz5/8 modulates the morphogenetic movements that initiate gastrulation by controlling SMC adhesion, shape and polarity, a mechanism that is likely to be conserved in vertebrates.
A new conserved role for Wnts in gastrulation?
A new conserved role for Wnts in gastrulation?. Development 1 February 2006; 133 (3): e303. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
About us

Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025

We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology

In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
Did you know that Development publishes perspectives on recent preprints? These articles help our readers navigate the ever-growing preprint literature. We welcome proposals for ‘In preprints’ articles, so please do get in touch if you’d like to contribute.