During the patterning of the vertebrate anterior-posterior axis, a gene expression oscillator controls segmentation of the somites, the precursors of the vertebral column. Several mathematical models have been developed to explain how this segmentation clock works. Now, Ahmet Ay, Ertuğrul Özbudak and colleagues (p. 3244) extend these earlier models by developing a multicellular stochastic computational model of the zebrafish segmentation clock. Simulations run with this model show that autoregulatory negative-feedback loops of dimers of Hairy/enhancer-of-split-related (Hes/Her) proteins - transcriptional repressors that are encoded by the only conserved oscillating genes in vertebrates - can drive synchronised gene expression oscillations in wild-type zebrafish embryos and can recapitulate various mutant phenotypes. The model also predicts that synchronised oscillations can only be generated if zebrafish Her proteins have a half-life of less than 6 minutes, a prediction that the researchers validate by showing that zebrafish Her7 has a half-life of 3.5 minutes. Importantly, this model can now be used to make predictions about clock behaviour that can be tested experimentally.
Modelling the segmentation clock
Modelling the segmentation clock. Development 1 August 2013; 140 (15): e1505. 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.