What does gastrula mean?
A gastrula is the embryonic stage that follows the blastula as gastrulation reorganizes the embryo's cells into primary germ layers. At this stage, the embryo is typically cup-shaped, with an outer ectoderm and, in many animals, an inner endoderm; the mesoderm develops between them in triploblastic organisms. The word is chiefly used in embryology and zoology, especially when describing developmental stages and cell movements. It is pluralized as gastrulae. A gastrula is not the same as gastrulation: the latter names the developmental process, whereas the former names the stage it produces. The term's image of inversion is useful in explanations of development because it captures the inward folding that establishes the body's basic tissue layers. It is specialized rather than everyday vocabulary.
nounThe embryonic stage formed as a blastula undergoes gastrulation, usually characterized by a cup-like shape and the establishment of two or three primary germ layers.
- The early embryonic stage following the blastula, in which cell movements establish the primary germ layers and give the embryo a typically cup-shaped form.
"During gastrulation, the blastula becomes a gastrula with newly established germ layers."
"The biologist watched the embryo develop from a blastula into a cup-shaped gastrula."
"In comparative embryology, the gastrula provides an important reference point for discussing homologous body plans."
The standard plural of gastrula is gastrulae.
"Several gastrulae were observed undergoing further tissue development."
A human embryo passes through a gastrula stage—a tiny cup whose inward fold lays out the future skin, gut, and supporting tissues.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of gastrula
The English scientific term comes from New Latin gastrula, a diminutive of Latin gaster, meaning "belly," which was borrowed from Greek gastēr, also meaning "belly." The term was introduced in nineteenth-century zoological embryology, notably through Ernst Haeckel's gastrula theory, and reflects the inward folding of the germ layers. Related English words include gastric, gastritis, gastro-, and gastrovascular.
Related word forms
How gastrula is actually used
A specialized formal term used chiefly in embryology, developmental biology, and zoology. It is usually countable and commonly occurs in attributive constructions such as "gastrula stage."
Easily confused with gastrula
Gastrulation is the developmental process that establishes the germ layers, whereas a gastrula is the embryonic stage produced by that process.