FIGURE 9

Schematic illustration of the main findings of this study. In WT embryos, dand5 is expressed on the right side of the LRO, NKSTCs exit the posterior cluster first from the left side in 50% of the embryos, and myoD is symmetrical in the same proportion of embryos. In dand5 ^−/− mutants, which lack dand5 expression, NKSTCs simultaneously depart from the posterior cluster from the left and right sides and acquire symmetrical positions. Later, myoD presumptive somite expression becomes symmetric, accordingly. In addition, in dand5 mutants, the width of the myoD segments was significantly shorter and the body length was decreased.