First detected at the 75% epiboly stage where it covers the anterior neural plate. Widely expressed in the presumptive mesencephalon and rhombomeres 1-4 until the 2-3-somite stage, with expression persisting in ngn1-positive clusters. First detected in the olfactory placodes at the 5-somite stage. In the spinal cord, detected in ngn1-positive clusters of primary neuroblasts during the early somite stages. Expression decreases in the spinal cord from the 30-somite stage but persists in the olfactory bulb and regions of the rhombencephalon and brain. Belongs to the COE family.