Developmental Mechanisms Problem Set

Problem 5: Fate of embryonic germ layers

Which embryonic germ layer has as one of its fates to become brain and nervous system:

A. mesoderm

B. archenteron

C. endoderm

D. blastocoel

E. ectoderm
After gastrulation, the ectoderm gives rise to the neural plate, a thickened, flat region on the dorsal side of the embryo. Through the process of neurulation, this region of the ectoderm forms an internal tube that later becomes the organism's nervous system. The anterior end of this neural tube ultimately becomes the brain.

The Biology Project Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics The University of Arizona Thursday, October 30, 1997
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