Abstract
The evolutionary emergence of the bilateral body plan and the central nervous system required the establishment of a midline organizer. The formation of a solitary, elongated but narrow organizing region for the dorsoventral (or mediolateral) axis requires rather complex molecular interactions. Different modes of midline formation evolved in vertebrates, insects and planarians, indicating that midline formation had a crucial role in the diversification of higher organisms.
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Meinhardt, H. Different strategies for midline formation in bilaterians. Nat Rev Neurosci 5, 502–510 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1410
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1410
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