Subtle changes in embryonic development are a source of significant morphological alterations during evolution. The mammalian mandibular skeleton, which originates from the cranial neural crest, is a complex structure comprising several components that interact late in embryogenesis to produce a single functional unit. It provides a model system in which individual developmental events at the basis of population-level evolutionary change can be investigated experimentally. Inbred mouse strains exhibit obvious morphological differences despite the relatively short time since their divergence from one another. Some of these differences can be traced to small changes in the timing of early developmental events such as the formation of the cellular condensations that initiate skeletogenesis. This paper examines an even earlier event for changes in timing, the epithelial-mesenchymal interaction(s) required to initiate chondrogenesis of Meckel's cartilage and osteogenesis of the dentary bone. Using three inbred strains of mice (CBA, C3H and C57) we found that, within each strain, cartilage and bone are induced at the same time and by the same (mandibular) epithelium, that chondrogenesis and osteogenesis are initiated by a matrix-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal interaction, and that timing of the interactions differs among the three inbred strains. These results are discussed with respect to the possible molecular basis of such temporal shifts in inductive interactions and how such studies can be used to shed light on heterochrony as a mechanism of evolutionary change in morphology.
Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.