Journal article
Growth patterns in Onychophora (velvet worms): Lack of a localised posterior proliferation zone
G Mayer, C Kato, B Quast, RH Chisholm, KA Landman, LM Quinn
BMC Evolutionary Biology | BMC | Published : 2010
Abstract
Background. During embryonic development of segmented animals, body segments are thought to arise from the so-called "posterior growth zone" and the occurrence of this "zone" has been used to support the homology of segmentation between arthropods, annelids, and vertebrates. However, the term "posterior growth zone" is used ambiguously in the literature, mostly referring to a region of increased proliferation at the posterior end of the embryo. To determine whether such a localised posterior proliferation zone is an ancestral feature of Panarthropoda (Onychophora + Tardigrada + Arthropoda), we examined cell division patterns in embryos of Onychophora. Results. Using in vivo incorporation of ..
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Grants
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
The staff of the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio, Heredia, Costa Rica), the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC, MINAE, Costa Rica) and State Forests NSW (New South Wales, Australia) are gratefully acknowledged for providing permits. G. M. is thankful to Paul Whitington for providing lab space, reading the first draft of the manuscript and critical discussions, to Alvaro Herrera, Paul Sunnucks and Noel Tait for their assistance with collection of specimens, and to Thomas Stach for sharing his knowledge on urochordates and cephalochordates and pointing us to the relevant literature. We are grateful to Tobias Kaller for providing the annelid larvae. Two anonymous reviewers provided numerous constructive criticisms, which helped improve the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the German Research Foundation to G. M. (Ma 4147/3-1) and the Australian Research Council to K. A. L. (ARC: DP 0878200). K. A. L. is an ARC Professorial Fellow. G. M. is a Research Group Leader supported by the Emmy Noether Programme of the DFG.