Summary:
1. Somites establish body segmentation.
2. Somite has 3 separate compartments.
3. Differential A/P properties of the somite result in segmentation of
vertebral column and peripheral nervous system.
4. Overlapping patterns of HOX gene
expression result in
somites with individual
characteristics.
5. Positional information is present in somites prior to
epithelial-mesenchymal transformation.