notochord

American  

[noh-tuh-kawrd] / ˈnoʊ təˌkɔrd /

noun

Embryology.

1. a rodlike cord of cells that forms the chief axial supporting structure of the body of the lower chordates, as amphioxus and the cyclostomes, and of the embryos of the vertebrates.

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notochord British  

/ ˈnəʊtəˌkɔːd /

noun

1. a fibrous longitudinal rod in all embryo and some adult chordate animals, immediately above the gut, that supports the body. It is replaced in adult vertebrates by the vertebral column

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notochord Scientific  

/ nō′tə-kôrd′ /

1. A flexible rodlike structure that forms the main support of the body in all chordates during some stage of their development. In vertebrates, the notochord develops into a true backbone in the embryonic phase. Primitive chordates, such as lancelets and tunicates, retain a notochord throughout their lives.

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Other Word Forms

• notochordal
  adjective
• subnotochordal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of notochord

First recorded in 1840–50; noto- + chord ¹ 5 (in the sense of “a cordlike anatomical structure”)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

notochord

Yes, according to Osaka Metropolitan University researchers, who found that suppression of Pcdh8 is essential for the notochord to elongate properly in zebrafish.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024

One of the major stations is the notochord, which produces a signal that plays a crucial role in organizing the developing spinal cord.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 2, 2024

Ogden's team captured images of the transport process happening in the cytonemes originating from the notochord.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 2, 2024

Lampreys possess a notochord as adults; however, this notochord is surrounded by a cartilaginous structure called an arcualia, which may resemble an evolutionarily early form of the vertebral column.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

In this case, however, the groove becomes a solid rod, then termed the notochord, and it lies immediately under the medullary groove itself, which, as we have seen, gives rise to the central nervous system.

From Embryology The Beginnings of Life by Gerald R. Leighton