Cell elimination in animal development

Cells of the model nematode C elegans do not move very much during development, but precisely 131 of the 1090 somatic cells of embryonic hermaphrodite individuals undergo programmed cell death (usually referred to by the general term apoptosis) before maturity. Other examples of apoptosis-like developmental cell death in animal morphogenesis include elimination of transitory organs and tissues such as anuran tails and gills and larval organs of holometabolous insects, and tissue remodelling as happens during avian limb bud differentiation (interdigital cell death) and formation of heart loops during vertebrate development. Comparable elimination processes occur during terminal differentiation of cells in anthers, xylem, the suspensor and senescing leaves and petals, though whether the underlying cellular mechanisms are similar to those of animals is open to doubt. Some authors (eg Beers 1997) make the distinction between developmental death of plant cells (non-apoptotic) on the one-hand and, on the other, cell suicide in response to biotic or abiotic environmental stress (exhibiting some apoptosis-like features).

References

• Beers EP (1997) Programmed cell death during plant growth and development. Cell Death and Differentiation 4: 649-661.