The floor plate is a structure integral to the developing nervous system of vertebrate organisms. Located on the ventral midline of the embryonic neural tube, the floor plate is a specialized glial structure that spans the anteroposterior axis from the midbrain to the tail regions. It has been shown that the floor plate is conserved among vertebrates with homologous structures in invertebrates such as the fruit fly Drosophila and the nematode C. elegans. Functionally, the structure serves as an organizer to ventralize tissues in the embryo as well as to guide neuronal positioning and differentiation along the dorsoventral axis of the neural tube.
Read more about Floor Plate: Induction, Axon Guidance
Famous quotes containing the words floor and/or plate:
“Cats walk the floor at midnight; that enemy of fog,
The moon, wraps the bedpost in receding stillness....”
—Allen Tate (18991979)
“Say Yessum to the ladies, an Yessur to the men,
And when theys company, dont pass yer plate for pie again;
But, thinkin of the things yerd like to see upon that tree,
Jes fore Christmas be as good as yer kin be!”
—Eugene Field (18501895)