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Fundamental origins and limits for scaling a maternal morphogen gradient

Author

Listed:
  • Feng He

    (Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation)

  • Chuanxian Wei

    (Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation
    State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Honggang Wu

    (Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation
    State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • David Cheung

    (Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation)

  • Renjie Jiao

    (State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Sino-French Hoffmann Institute, Guangzhou Medical University)

  • Jun Ma

    (Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation
    Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation)

Abstract

Tissue expansion and patterning are integral to development; however, it is unknown quantitatively how a mother accumulates molecular resources to invest in the future of instructing robust embryonic patterning. Here we develop a model, Tissue Expansion-Modulated Maternal Morphogen Scaling (TEM3S), to study scaled anterior–posterior patterning in Drosophila embryos. Using both ovaries and embryos, we measure a core quantity of the model, the scaling power of the Bicoid (Bcd) morphogen gradient’s amplitude nA. We also evaluate directly model-derived predictions about Bcd gradient and patterning properties. Our results show that scaling of the Bcd gradient in the embryo originates from, and is constrained fundamentally by, a dynamic relationship between maternal tissue expansion and bcd gene copy number expansion in the ovary. This delicate connection between the two transitioning stages of a life cycle, stemming from a finite value of nA~3, underscores a key feature of developmental systems depicted by TEM3S.

Suggested Citation

  • Feng He & Chuanxian Wei & Honggang Wu & David Cheung & Renjie Jiao & Jun Ma, 2015. "Fundamental origins and limits for scaling a maternal morphogen gradient," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-10, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms7679
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7679
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    Cited by:

    1. Xueying C. Li & Lautaro Gandara & Måns Ekelöf & Kerstin Richter & Theodore Alexandrov & Justin Crocker, 2024. "Rapid response of fly populations to gene dosage across development and generations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

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