PUBLICATION
Cost-precision trade-off relation determines the optimal morphogen gradient for accurate biological pattern formation
- Authors
- Song, Y., Hyeon, C.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-210923-2
- Date
- 2021
- Source
- eLIFE 10: (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- D. melanogaster, developmental biology, morphogenesis, pattern formation, physics of living systems, thermodynamic cost, zebra fish
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Body Patterning*
- Diffusion
- Drosophila Proteins/genetics
- Drosophila Proteins/metabolism*
- Drosophila melanogaster/embryology
- Drosophila melanogaster/genetics
- Drosophila melanogaster/metabolism*
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/metabolism
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Imaginal Discs/metabolism
- Models, Biological*
- Signal Transduction
- Time Factors
- Wings, Animal/embryology
- Wings, Animal/metabolism
- PubMed
- 34402427 Full text @ Elife
Citation
Song, Y., Hyeon, C. (2021) Cost-precision trade-off relation determines the optimal morphogen gradient for accurate biological pattern formation. eLIFE. 10:.
Abstract
Spatial boundaries formed during animal development originate from the pre-patterning of tissues by signaling molecules, called morphogens. The accuracy of boundary location is limited by the fluctuations of morphogen concentration that thresholds the expression level of target gene. Producing more morphogen molecules, which gives rise to smaller relative fluctuations, would better serve to shape more precise target boundaries; however, it incurs more thermodynamic cost. In the classical diffusion-depletion model of morphogen profile formation, the morphogen molecules synthesized from a local source display an exponentially decaying concentration profile with a characteristic length λ. Our theory suggests that in order to attain a precise profile with the minimal cost, λ should be roughly half the distance to the target boundary position from the source. Remarkably, we find that the profiles of morphogens that pattern the Drosophila embryo and wing imaginal disk are formed with nearly optimal λ. Our finding underscores the cost-effectiveness of precise morphogen profile formation in Drosophila development.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping