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Imaging and Analysis of Tissue Orientation and Growth Dynamics in the Developing Drosophila Epithelia During Pupal Stages

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Network evolution of body plans.

Koichi Fujimoto¹, Shuji Ishihara, Kunihiko Kaneko

¹ERATO Complex Systems Biology Project, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo, Japan. fujimoto@complex.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp

|July 24, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary developmental biology reveals how gene regulatory networks shape arthropod segmentation. Network structures, particularly feed-forward and feedback loops, determine diverse body plan development, suggesting segmentation modes are inherent to evolving networks.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary developmental biology
Systems biology
Genetics

Background:

Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) underpin morphological diversity and function.
Arthropod segmentation, characterized by distinct gene expression patterns, exemplifies body plan evolution.
Understanding GRN wiring is key to explaining trait variation in conserved gene systems.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between GRN topology and the emergence of diverse segmentation patterns in arthropods.
To determine if segmentation diversity arises from random events or network evolution under selection.
To elucidate the fundamental network differences driving long, short, and intermediate germ-band development.

Main Methods:

Numerical evolution of hundreds of gene regulatory networks designed to produce striped gene expression patterns.
Analysis of network topologies, focusing on Feed-Forward Loops (FFLs) and Feed-Back Loops (FBLs).
Comparison of evolved network behaviors (architecture, expression, knockout responses) with empirical data from model organisms like Drosophila and Tribolium.

Main Results:

Long germ-band development is characterized by FFLs, while short germ-band development relies on negative FBLs.
Intermediate germ-band development emerges from the interplay between FFLs and negative FBLs.
Evolved network behaviors align with experimental observations in Drosophila and Tribolium, and predict architectures for other arthropods.

Conclusions:

The three modes of arthropod body segmentation are inherent properties of evolving gene regulatory networks.
Network topology, specifically the presence and interaction of FFLs and FBLs, dictates segmentation patterns.
This study provides a framework for predicting GRN architectures and understanding evolutionary constraints on body plan development.