composed primarily of glial cell cell layer neural tube roof plate alar plate EMAPA:16168 A single row of glia at the dorsal midline of the developing neural tube along the entire anterior-posterior axis. This region provides inductive signals for the specification of neuronal cell types and of the specification of neural crest cells. The cells comprising the roof plate are the precursors to radial glial cells. TODO - Note that although this is classically defined as being located on the neural tube, in many AOs the roof plate continues post-embryonically after the neural tube has ceased to exist. Consider 'roof plate of neural tube'. TODO - alar plate vs roof plate ZFA:0007058 EMAPA:35361 roof plate VHOG:0000303 TAO:0001436 EHDAA2:0001270 UBERON:0003054 neuronames:1371 ZFA:0001436 roof plate neural tube region EHDAA:916 AAO:0011097 EHDAA:2891 TAO:0007058 future brain roof plate roofplate roof plate neural tube embryonic tissue