Mapping of Temporal Oscillations into a Spatial Wave Pattern during Somite Segmentation, and a Model of the Oscillator Mechanism

<div><p>(A) The expression pattern of the oscillating gene <i>deltaC</i> in a zebrafish embryo at the ten-somite stage.</p> <p>(B) In each cell of the presomitic mesoderm, it is proposed that a <i>her1</i> or <i>her7</i> autoinhibition negative feedback loop generates oscillations.</p> <p>(C) Communication via the Delta-Notch pathway is proposed to keep oscillations in adjacent cells synchronized. The oscillations depend critically on the delays (<i>T</i>_m, <i>T</i>_p, <i>T</i>_md, and <i>T</i>_pd) in the feedback loops.</p> <p>(A–C) are slightly modified from [<a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.0050150#pbio-0050150-b025" target="_blank">25</a>].</p>