Cell-lineage and clonal-contribution map of the trochophore larva of Patella vulgata (mollusca).

Molluscan development is characterised by its extremely regular cleavage pattern. In numerous molluscs the fate of various early-cleavage stage blastomeres has been determined and fate maps have been constructed. On the basis of similarities between these fate maps, a generalised molluscan cell-lineage map has been constructed. Recently, the validity of this map has been challenged. In this study, the cell-lineage of the first-, second-, and third-quartet micromeres and third-generation macromeres of the equally-cleaving gastropod mollusc Patella vulgata was studied by fluorescent cell-lineage tracer injection followed by epifluorescence microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. For the first time, a complete cell-lineage map, in the form of a clonal-contribution map of the trochophore, has been constructed with the use of fluorescent cell-lineage tracers. This map both agrees and differs in a number of respects with the generalised cell-lineage map of molluscs. The most important deviation is that the micromere 2d, formerly referred to as the first somatoblast, is not the only cell that forms the foot and shell gland in Patella.