Genome sequencing has yielded a plethora of new genes the function of which can be
unravelled through comparative genomic approaches. Increasingly, developmental …

Cranial placodes are specialized regions of the ectoderm, which give rise to various sensory
ganglia and contribute to the pituitary gland and sensory organs of the vertebrate head …

Several eye-field transcription factors (EFTFs) are expressed in the anterior region of the
vertebrate neural plate and are essential for eye formation. The Xenopus EFTFs ET, Rx1 …

The sine oculis homeobox (SIX) protein family is a group of evolutionarily conserved
transcription factors that are found in diverse organisms that range from flatworms to …

We analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern of expression of 15 transcription factors (Six1, Six4,
Eya1, Sox3, Sox2, Pax6, Pax3, Pax2, Pax8, Dlx3, Msx1, FoxI1c, Tbx2, Tbx3, Xiro1) during …

Fox factors (winged-helix transcription factors) play important roles in early embryonic
patterning. We show here that FoxD3 (Forkhead 6) regulates neural crest determination in …

The origin of the bilaterian head is a fundamental question for the evolution of animal body
plans. The head of bilaterians develops at the anterior end of their primary body axis and is …

The vertebrate eye consists of multiple tissues with distinct embryonic origins. To ensure
formation of the eye as a functional organ, development of ocular tissues must be precisely …

The otic primordium belongs to a group of related structures, the sensory placodes that
contribute to the paired sense organs-ear, eye and olfactory epithelium-and to the distal …

The establishment of retinal identity and the subsequent patterning of the optic vesicle are
the key steps in early vertebrate eye development. To date little is known about the nature …