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Gastrulation, the process through which an embryo internalizes and re-organizes the cells that will form the various structures of the adult animal, is the primary morphogenetic event during early development. There are many cellular strategies for accomplishing this transition from a monolayered blastula-stage embryo to a multilayered gastrula, including such coordinated cell behaviors as invagination, involution, epiboly, delamination and ingression. Our studies of the cellular mechanisms underlying gastrulation in Nematostella have revealed that this organism gastrulates through invagination. Although cells of the lateral endodermal plate do constrict their apices and form elongate bottle-like morphologies, they do not detach and ingress as individuals.
Single confocal sections of Nematostella embryos at various stages of gastrulation, with cells false-colored to highlight their morphologies.
Gastrulating Nematostella embryos labeled with phalloidin (green) and propidium iodide (red).
Current work is aimed at understanding in more detail the cellular dynamics that occur during gastrulation in Nematostella.
Cell biology of gastrulation in Nematostella
