Spatial And Temporal Pattern For The Dentition In The Australian Lungfish Revealed With Sonic Hedgehog Expression Profile

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Veterinary
Article Date: 13 Nov 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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We find that in the living sister group to all tetrapods, the Australian lungfish, the order of tooth development is a stereotypic pattern shared with all osteichthyans.

One gene for tooth committment, sonic hedgehog is expressed and intensely focused on tooth positions at different times corresponding with their initiation order.

This reflects a shared developmental process of the tooth module, with jawed vertebrates. Embryos and larval stages of Neoceratodus forsteri are a scarce and precious resource with eggs collected in September-December and individually stored.

Lungfish eggs were collected from the spawning ponds established at Macquarie University. Each egg, and after hatching each fish, was kept separately in shallow, sterilized pond water (changed every 3-4 days) until the first 2-3 weeks post hatching. Stages of larvae are from the Website for staging of developing lungfish: http://www.bio.mq.edu.au/dept/centres/lungfish/lungfishresearch.html

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

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