Notch signalling in development: on equivalence groups and asymmetric developmental potential.

Notch-mediated lateral signalling takes place between equivalent cells that then adopt alternative fates. An example is the epidermal-neural choice in the Drosophila neuro-ectoderm. Sometimes this choice is random. Sometimes it is biased to a preferred cell by an extrinsic signal. Sometimes the neural precursor is predetermined. A stochastic outcome is probably older in evolutionary terms.