Developmental biology: A 5'Hoxd-Gli3 balance in tetrapod axial polarity.

Almost all living tetrapods exhibit postaxial dominance in digit formation, apart from urodele amphibians, which show preaxial dominance. Recent work shines light on the genetic differences between the two modes of limb development, suggesting that differences in 5'Hoxd expression, mediated by Gli3, may explain the switch in axial polarity.

Limb positioning and initiation: An evolutionary context of pattern and formation.

Before limbs or fins, can be patterned and grow they must be initiated. Initiation of the limb first involves designating a portion of lateral plate mesoderm along the flank as the site of the future limb. Following specification, a myriad of cellular and molecular events interact to generate a bud that will grow and form the limb. The past three decades has provided a wealth of understanding on how those events generate the limb bud and how variations in them result in different limb forms. Comparatively, much less attention has been given to the earliest steps of limb formation and what impacts altering the position and initiation of the limb have had on evolution. Here, we first review the processes and pathways involved in these two phases of limb initiation, as determined from amniote model systems. We then broaden our scope to examine how variation in the limb initiation module has contributed to biological diversity in amniotes. Finally, we review what is known about limb initiation in fish and amphibians, and consider what mechanisms are conserved across vertebrates.