Single-cell atlas of early chick development reveals gradual segregation of neural crest lineage from the neural plate border during neurulation

The epiblast of vertebrate embryos is comprised of neural and non-neural ectoderm, with the border territory at their intersection harboring neural crest and cranial placode progenitors. Here, we a generate single-cell atlas of the developing chick epiblast from late gastrulation through early neurulation stages to define transcriptional changes in the emerging ‘neural plate border’ as well as other regions of the epiblast. Focusing on the border territory, the results reveal gradual establishment of heterogeneous neural plate border signatures, including novel genes that we validate by fluorescent in situ hybridization. Developmental trajectory analysis infers that segregation of neural plate border lineages only commences at early neurulation, rather than at gastrulation as previously predicted. We find that cells expressing the prospective neural crest marker Pax7 contribute to multiple lineages, and a subset of premigratory neural crest cells shares a transcriptional signature with their border precursors. Together, our results suggest that cells at the neural plate border remain heterogeneous until early neurulation, at which time progenitors become progressively allocated toward defined neural crest and placode lineages. The data also can be mined to reveal changes throughout the developing epiblast.