Clock and Wavefront Model for Vertebrate Segmentation

Clock and Wavefront Model for Vertebrate Segmentation - This model proposes that the production of somites during embryogenesis results from a molecular oscillator (called the clock) traveling along the embryonic axis. Segment formation is triggered during a defined (permissive) phase of the oscillation, while the oscillator is constantly displaced posteriorly by a maturation wave (the wavefront), hence ensuring the spacing of the response to the oscillator.