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Letter

Nature Cell Biology 10, 186–193 (1 February 2008) | doi:10.1038/ncb1679

A |[beta]|-catenin gradient links the clock and wavefront systems in mouse embryo segmentation

Alexander Aulehla , Winfried Wiegraebe , Valerie Baubet , Matthias B. Wahl , Chuxia Deng , Makoto Taketo , Mark Lewandoski & Olivier Pourqui|[eacute]|

Rhythmic production of vertebral precursors, the somites, causes bilateral columns of embryonic segments to form. This process involves a molecular oscillator — the segmentation clock — whose signal is translated into a spatial, periodic pattern by a complex signalling gradient system within the presomitic mesoderm (PSM).