Skeletal myogenesis: genetics and embryology to the fore

Abstract

The MyoD family of transcription factors are expressed in the skeletal muscles of vertebrate and invertebrate embryos and have dominant regulatory activities that indicate their important developmental functions in myogenic lineage determination and muscle differentiation. Genetic studies, however, reveal that individually, myoD-related genes are not essential for myogenic lineage determination in mouse and Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, but have differentiation functions and perhaps redundant functions in lineage determination that remain to be defined by further genetic studies.