Short-range Fgf signalling patterns hindbrain progenitors to induce the neurogenesis-to-oligodendrogenesis switch.

In the vertebrate nervous system, neurogenesis generally precedes gliogenesis. The mechanisms driving the switch in cell type production and generation of the correct proportion of cell types remain unclear. Here, we show that Fgf20 signalling patterns progenitors to induce the switch from neurogenesis to oligodendrogenesis in the zebrafish hindbrain.

Control of successive unequal cell divisions by neural cell fate regulators determines embryonic neuroblast cell size.

Asymmetric cell divisions often generate daughter cells of unequal size in addition to different fates. In some contexts, daughter cell size asymmetry is thought to be a key input to specific binary cell fate decisions. An alternative possibility is that unequal division is a mechanism by which a variety of cells of different sizes are generated during embryonic development.