Tooth & odontode
development

Tooth and odontode (skeletal units made of enamel or enamel-like, dentine, and pulp) development in extant vertebrates involves similar gene cascades. However, the products are not the same between taxa, and the shapes of the teeth and odontodes vastly differ at intraspecific and interspecific levels. We review:

• Gene expression patterns in Scyliorhinus canicula teeth and dermal scales
• Expression patterns of the same genes in teeth of mammals and teleost fishes
• The developmental stages used to describe tooth and odontode development

This work points out the similarities and divergences in gene expression patterns in teeth and odontodes within different vertebrate taxa. We also show evidence of multiple missing data at intraspecific and interspecific levels and discuss their need to understand better the developmental and evolutionary processes involved in extant tooth and odontode shape divergences.

Methods: literature review

Working with: Mélanie Debiais-Thibaud

Related publication:

F. Berio & M. Debiais-Thibaud (2020). Evolutionary developmental genetics of teeth and odontodes in jawed vertebrates: A perspective from the study of elasmobranch fishes. — Journal of Fish Biology, 98(4), 906-918. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14225