Senescence gives insights into the morphogenetic evolution of anamniotes.

Senescence represents a mechanism to avoid undesired cell proliferation that plays a role in tumor suppression, wound healing and embryonic development. In order to gain insight on the evolution of senescence, we looked at its presence in developing axolotls (urodele amphibians) and in zebrafish (teleost fish), which are both anamniotes. Our data indicate that cellular senescence is present in various developing structures in axolotls (pronephros, olfactory epithelium of nerve fascicles, lateral organs, gums) and in zebrafish (epithelium of the yolk sac and in the lower part of the gut).