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Salamanders as Key Models for Development and Regeneration Research

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Salamanders

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2562))

Abstract

For 70 years from the very beginning of developmental biology, the salamander embryo was the pre-eminent model for these studies. Here I review the major discoveries that were made using salamander embryos including regionalization of the mesoderm; patterning of the neural plate; limb development, with the pinnacle being Spemann’s Nobel Prize for the discovery of the organizer; and the phenomenon of induction. Salamanders have also been the major organism for elucidating discoveries in organ regeneration, and these are described here too beginning with Spallanzani’s experiments in 1768. These include the neurotrophic hypothesis of regeneration, studies of aneurogenic limbs, the concept of dedifferentiation and transdifferentiation, and advances in understanding pattern formation via molecules located on the cell surface. Also described is the prodigious power of brain and spinal cord regeneration and discoveries from lens regeneration, all of which reveal how important salamanders have been as research models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology & UF Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Malcolm Maden

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  1. Malcolm Maden
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Correspondence to Malcolm Maden .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Ashley W. Seifert

  2. Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Joshua D. Currie

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Maden, M. (2023). Salamanders as Key Models for Development and Regeneration Research. In: Seifert, A.W., Currie, J.D. (eds) Salamanders. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2562. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2659-7_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2659-7_1

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2658-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2659-7

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