The neocortex is the part of the brain responsible for higher-order functions including behavioural diversity and complexity. It is unique to mammals, but there are subtle differences in neocortex structure between marsupials and eutherians. This contrasts with the rest of the brain anatomy, which is highly conserved. In this Issue, Linda Richards, Laura Fenlon and colleagues compare the developing neocortex of the mouse-sized marsupial Sminthopsis crassicaudata (fat-tailed dunnart) with that of the eutherian mouse. Using a de novo assembled transcriptome from the dunnart and published data from the mouse, the authors analyse gene expression changes in early and late stages of cortical development, when neurons from equivalent neocortical layers are being born. They find that, during early development, the dunnart transcriptome is enriched for genes responsible for neuronal differentiation and function, whereas the mouse transcriptome is enriched for genes associated with a progenitor state. Further, although the mouse gene expression profile changes from early to late development, with a progression towards neural differentiation, there are few changes in the dunnart expression profile between the two stages. Together, these data indicate that key differences exist in neocortex development between marsupials and eutherians; neuronal differentiation in the dunnart begins earlier than in the mouse but is more protracted.
Marsupials get their thinking caps on first!
- Split-screen
- Views Icon Views
-
Article Versions Icon
Versions
- Version of Record 10 February 2022
- Share Icon Share
-
Tools Icon
Tools
- Search Site
Marsupials get their thinking caps on first!. Development 1 February 2022; 149 (3): e149_e0303. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
Call for papers: Uncovering Developmental Diversity
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: Uncovering Developmental Diversity. This issue will be coordinated by our academic Editor Cassandra Extavour (Harvard University, USA) alongside two Guest Editors: Liam Dolan (Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austria) and Karen Sears (University of California Los Angeles, USA).
Choose Development in 2024
In this Editorial, Development Editor-in-Chief James Briscoe and Executive Editor Katherine Brown explain how you support your community by publishing in Development and how the journal champions serious science, community connections and progressive publishing.
Journal Meeting: From Stem Cells to Human Development
Register now for the 2024 Development Journal Meeting From Stem Cells to Human Development. Early-bird registration deadline: 3 May. Abstract submission deadline: 21 June.
Pluripotency of a founding field: rebranding developmental biology
This collaborative Perspective, the result of a workshop held in 2023, proposes a set of community actions to increase the visibility of the developmental biology field. The authors make recommendations for new funding streams, frameworks for collaborations and mechanisms by which members of the community can promote themselves and their research.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.