Schwann cell precursors represent a neural crest-like state with biased multipotency.

Schwann cell precursors (SCPs) are nerve-associated progenitors that can generate myelinating and non-myelinating Schwann cells but also are multipotent like the neural crest cells from which they originate. SCPs are omnipresent along outgrowing peripheral nerves throughout the body of vertebrate embryos. By using single-cell transcriptomics to generate a gene expression atlas of the entire neural crest lineage, we show that early SCPs and late migratory crest cells have similar transcriptional profiles characterised by a multipotent "hub" state containing cells biased towards traditional neural crest fates.