Abstract
The vertebrate nervous system is deeply divided into ‘somatic’ and ‘visceral’ subsystems that respond to external and internal stimuli, respectively. Molecular characterization of neurons in different groups of mollusks by Nomaksteinsky and colleagues, published in this issue of BMC Biology, reveals that the viscero-somatic duality is evolutionarily ancient, predating Bilateria.See research article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/11/53
Highlights
Starting with the work of the French physiologist Claude Bernard in the 19th century, vertebrates have been considered ‘dual entities’, composed of a ‘somatic’ and a ‘visceral’ animal responding to different environments: a milieu extérieur in which the organism is situated, and a milieu intérieur in which the tissue elements live [1]
The comparison of molecular fingerprints has been used for tracing the evolution of animal cell types
Nomaksteinsky et al [3] have used molecular fingerprinting to tackle a long-standing question in comparative neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, which is the evolutionary origin of the somatic versus visceral nervous system duality
Summary
Starting with the work of the French physiologist Claude Bernard in the 19th century, vertebrates have been considered ‘dual entities’, composed of a ‘somatic’ and a ‘visceral’ animal responding to different environments: a milieu extérieur in which the organism is situated, and a milieu intérieur in which the tissue elements live [1]. The vertebrate somatic-visceral ‘duality’ is reflected by the differential usage of specific homeodomain transcription factors that drive cell-type specification. In almost all sensory and motor neurons of the vertebrate viscero-reflex-circuits the paired-like homeodomain transcription factor phox2b is present, likewise controlling specification, differentiation and axonal connectivity [7].
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