neurula

[ noor-uh-luh, nyoor- ]

noun

, Embryology.

, plural neu·ru·las, neu·ru·lae [noor, -, uh, -lee, -lahy, nyoor, -].

1. an embryo in the stage of development in which part of the ectoderm is differentiated into neural tissue and in which the neural tube, which develops into the brain and spinal cord, is formed.

Other Words From

• neuru·lar adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of neurula¹

From New Latin, dating back to 1905–10; neur-, -ule

Example Sentences

Autoradiography has shown that a neurula nucleus, which synthesizes each main kind of RNA, stops all detectable RNA syntheis, that is, it no longer incorporates labeled RNA precursors, within an hour of transplantation into egg cytoplasm.

From Scientific American

Since a high proportion of transplanted neurula nuclei support entirely normal development, the results show that egg cytoplasm must contain constituents responsible for independently controlling the activity of different classes of genes in normal living            nuclei.

From Scientific American

The extent to which these events are under cytoplasmic control has been investigated by transplanting into enucleated eggs single nuclei from embryonic tissue at the neurula stage of development, the one that follows the gastrula stage.

From Scientific American