Practice question

Competence is developmental concept denoting capacity of recipient tissue to receive and interpret inductive signal at particular stage. It reflects expression of appropriate receptors, intracellular transducers like Smads, chromatin accessibility and presence of co-factors. Competence is transient, acquired then lost, explaining why same inducer evokes different responses at distinct stages. For example, ectoderm competent to form neural tissue only during gastrulation when BMP antagonists present, later refractory becoming epidermis. Indefinitely dividing, migratory ability or permanent differentiation describes stemness, motility and determination, not context-specific responsiveness defining competence window for induction.