Spiral cleavage and cell position contribute to the specification of the dorsoventral axis in the embryo of the archaeogastropod Haliotis tuberculata

In the embryo of Haliotis tuberculata spiral cleavage induces size differences between the quadrants in the 4-cell embryo. These size differences, together with the formation of compact cell configurations, induce asymmetrical positions of equivalent cells in the 8- and 16-cell embryo. The asymmetries in size and position influence the final specification of the dorsoventral asymmetry in the 32-cell embryo, as well as formation of the mesentoblast. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.