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Evolution

On the crest of becoming vertebrate

Nature volume 527, pages 311–312 (2015)Cite this article

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The discovery of cells in an invertebrate that share several features with vertebrate neural-crest cells provides insights into how this vital vertebrate cell population might have evolved. See Letter p.371

The evolution of vertebrates is intimately linked to the advent of an embryonic cell population called the neural crest. Neural-crest cells arise in the central nervous system (CNS) and then invade the periphery of the vertebrate embryo, where they differentiate to form a wide range of cell types, from facial cartilage and bone, to pigment cells of the skin, to neurons and glial cells of the peripheral nervous system. The evolution of these features is thought to have imbued vertebrates with their predatory ability1, facilitating their success on Earth. Although all vertebrates have neural-crest cells, how this population evolved has remained a mystery. In this issue, Stolfi et al.2 (page 371) report that a type of neuron in an ascidian (sea squirt) — an invertebrate filter feeder that is a close relative of vertebrates — has intriguingly similar features to neurons derived from the vertebrate neural crest.

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Figure 1: Evolution of the neural crest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marianne E. Bronner is in the Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.,

    Marianne E. Bronner

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  1. Marianne E. Bronner
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Correspondence to Marianne E. Bronner.

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Bronner, M. On the crest of becoming vertebrate. Nature 527, 311–312 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15645

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