PUBLICATION
Size-reduced embryos reveal a gradient scaling based mechanism for zebrafish somite formation
- Authors
- Ishimatsu, K., Hiscock, T.W., Collins, Z.M., Sari, D.W.K., Lischer, K., Richmond, D.L., Bessho, Y., Matsui, T., Megason, S.G.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-180518-2
- Date
- 2018
- Source
- Development (Cambridge, England) 145(11): (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Bessho, Yasumasa, Matsui, Takaaki, Megason, Sean, Sari, Dini
- Keywords
- Fgf gradient, Mathematical modeling, PSM, Quantitative imaging, Scaling, Segmentation clock, Somite
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/physiology
- Body Patterning/genetics*
- Body Size/physiology
- Cleavage Stage, Ovum/physiology*
- Fibroblast Growth Factors/metabolism
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/genetics
- Models, Theoretical
- Morphogenesis/genetics*
- Organ Size/physiology
- Somites/embryology*
- Zebrafish/embryology*
- Zebrafish Proteins/physiology
- PubMed
- 29769221 Full text @ Development
Citation
Ishimatsu, K., Hiscock, T.W., Collins, Z.M., Sari, D.W.K., Lischer, K., Richmond, D.L., Bessho, Y., Matsui, T., Megason, S.G. (2018) Size-reduced embryos reveal a gradient scaling based mechanism for zebrafish somite formation. Development (Cambridge, England). 145(11).
Abstract
Little is known about how the sizes of animal tissues are controlled. A prominent example is somite size which varies widely both within an individual and across species. Despite intense study of the segmentation clock governing the timing of somite generation, how it relates to somite size is poorly understood. Here we examine somite scaling and find that somite size at specification scales with the length of the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) despite considerable variation in PSM length across developmental stages and in surgically size-reduced embryos. Measurement of clock period, axis elongation speed, and clock gene expression patterns demonstrate that existing models fail to explain scaling. We posit a "clock and scaled gradient" model, in which somite boundaries are set by a dynamically scaling signaling gradient across the PSM. Our model not only explains existing data, but also makes a unique prediction that we experimentally confirm-the formation of periodic "echoes" in somite size following perturbation of the size of one somite. Our findings demonstrate that gradient scaling plays a central role both in progression and size control of somitogenesis.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping