--- res: bibo_abstract: - The process of gastrulation is highly conserved across vertebrates on both the genetic and morphological levels, despite great variety in embryonic shape and speed of development. This mechanism spatially separates the germ layers and establishes the organizational foundation for future development. Mesodermal identity is specified in a superficial layer of cells, the epiblast, where cells maintain an epithelioid morphology. These cells involute to join the deeper hypoblast layer where they adopt a migratory, mesenchymal morphology. Expression of a cascade of related transcription factors orchestrates the parallel genetic transition from primitive to mature mesoderm. Although the early and late stages of this process are increasingly well understood, the transition between them has remained largely mysterious. We present here the first high resolution in vivo observations of the blebby transitional morphology of involuting mesodermal cells in a vertebrate embryo. We further demonstrate that the zebrafish spadetail mutation creates a reversible block in the maturation program, stalling cells in the transition state. This mutation creates an ideal system for dissecting the specific properties of cells undergoing the morphological transition of maturing mesoderm, as we demonstrate with a direct measurement of cell–cell adhesion.@eng bibo_authorlist: - foaf_Person: foaf_givenName: Richard foaf_name: Row, Richard foaf_surname: Row - foaf_Person: foaf_givenName: Jean-Léon foaf_name: Maître, Jean-Léon foaf_surname: Maître foaf_workInfoHomepage: http://www.librecat.org/personId=48F1E0D8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 orcid: 0000-0002-3688-1474 - foaf_Person: foaf_givenName: Benjamin foaf_name: Martin, Benjamin foaf_surname: Martin - foaf_Person: foaf_givenName: Petra foaf_name: Stockinger, Petra foaf_surname: Stockinger foaf_workInfoHomepage: http://www.librecat.org/personId=261CB030-E90D-11E9-B182-F697D44B663C - foaf_Person: foaf_givenName: Carl-Philipp J foaf_name: Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J foaf_surname: Heisenberg foaf_workInfoHomepage: http://www.librecat.org/personId=39427864-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 orcid: 0000-0002-0912-4566 - foaf_Person: foaf_givenName: David foaf_name: Kimelman, David foaf_surname: Kimelman bibo_doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2011.03.025 bibo_issue: '1' bibo_volume: 354 dct_date: 2011^xs_gYear dct_language: eng dct_publisher: Elsevier@ dct_title: Completion of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition in zebrafish mesoderm requires Spadetail@ fabio_hasPubmedId: '1463614' ...