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Kathleen K. Smith
Professor, Department of Biology, Email Kathleen
This observation is also important because in many fundamental ways the central nervous system is responsible for patterning the skeletal tissues of the head. In particular the CNS, through the differentiation of the neural crest, provides the material for the cranial skeleton, and the CNS provides signals thought to be important in the induction and patterning of the chondrocranium. We have examined the differentiation and migration of the cranial neural crest and have shown that relative to the differentiation of the paraxial mesoderm, or the neural tube, neural crest differentiation is accelerated in marsupials relative to all other amniotes thus far described. Therefore, the heterochrony between neural and somatic tissues observed in organogenic stages begins at the very earliest differentiation of these tissues. It is particularly interesting that the neural crest migrates before there is any significant subdivision of the neural plate. In addition the lab has examined the development and differentiation of the somites and limb buds, the development of the heart in marsupials, and the differentiation of major features of the brain in Monodelphis. I am also continuing my work on approaches to heterochrony; a historical study of JP Hill and his work on neural crest in marsupials, and comparative work on development and reproduction in different mammalian clades with an aim to understanding the origins of mammalian developmental and reproductive patterns. Click here to link to papers from the Smith lab top of page Fun - all work and no play makes for dull company!
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