Fate mapping in embryos of Neoceratodus forsteri reveals cranial neural crest participation in tooth development is conserved from lungfish to tetrapods.
Experimental evidence that the neural crest participates in tooth development in any osteichthyan fish has so far been lacking. Using vital dye cell-lineage tracking, we demonstrate that trigeminal stream neural crest cells contribute to the dental papilla of developing teeth in the Australian lungfish. Trigeminal neural crest cells labeled before migration have been traced during the earliest stages of tooth development. Neural crest cells from a single midbrain locus were relocated as ectomesenchyme in all developing teeth of the lungfish regardless of their topographical position in the dentition. These cells remain at the dental papilla interface and become cells committed to dentine production. Our findings provide the first cell-lineage evidence that cranial neural crest is fated to ectomesenchyme for tooth development and dentine production in the living sister-group to tetrapods. This shows that cranial neural crest contribution to teeth is conserved from this node on the tetrapod phylogeny.