A temporally resolved transcriptome for developing “Keller” explants of the Xenopus laevis dorsal marginal zone

Explanted tissues from vertebrate embryos reliably develop in culture and have provided essential paradigms for understanding embryogenesis, from early embryological investigations of induction, to the extensive study of Xenopus animal caps, to the current studies of mammalian gastruloids. Cultured explants of the Xenopus dorsal marginal zone (“Keller” explants) serve as a central paradigm for studies of convergent extension cell movements, yet we know little about the global patterns of gene expression in these explants. In an effort to more thoroughly develop this important model system, we provide here a time-resolved bulk transcriptome for developing Keller explants. RNA-Seq analysis of a timecourse of dorsal marginal zone explants from Xenopus embryos from stage 11 to stage 18.