Molecular Analysis of Invertebrate Development and Growth: Identification of Developmentally Regulated Genes in Model and Commercially Important Species

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Over the past two decades, there has been rapid progress in our understanding of the molecular and cellular bases of a wide range of developmental and physiological processes. The greatest advances have come from the application of molecular techniques to a handful of model organisms. Molecular analysis of development, growth and differentiation has progressed most in those model species in which genetic analysis is most accessible; that is, those species whose life histories allow the rapid generation and screening of mutants. These model organisms are primarily a fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, a nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a mouse Mus musculus and a zebrafish Danio rerio.