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Updated: Jun 28, 2026
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The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
Published on: February 16, 2017
Intraspecific evolution of the intercellular signaling network underlying a robust developmental system.
Josselin Milloz1, Fabien Duveau, Isabelle Nuez
1Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS-University Denis Diderot-Paris 7-UPMC, Paris, France.
Genes & Development
|November 5, 2008
Summary
Biological systems maintain robust outputs despite variations. This study reveals cryptic genetic evolution in Caenorhabditis elegans vulva development, uncovering microevolution in its signaling network.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Evolutionary Genetics
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Biological systems often exhibit robustness, maintaining invariant outputs despite environmental or genetic variations.
- This robustness can mask underlying genetic changes, allowing for cryptic genetic evolution.
- The Caenorhabditis elegans vulva precursor cell fate patterning system provides a model for studying developmental robustness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the genetic variation and microevolution within the Caenorhabditis elegans vulva precursor cell fate patterning system.
- To characterize the buffering mechanisms that contribute to the invariant output of this developmental system.
- To understand how variation in signaling pathways affects development and evolution.
Main Methods:
- Utilized genetic tools and cell ablation in Caenorhabditis elegans to perturb buffering mechanisms.
- Analyzed quantitative variation along the Ras signaling cascade.
- Examined spatio-temporal dynamics of Ras pathway activity in different C. elegans isolates.
- Investigated tissue-specific effects of signaling pathway variation.
Main Results:
- Uncovered distinct architectures of quantitative variation and compensatory mechanisms within the Ras signaling cascade.
- Identified differences in cell sensitivity to induction along the anteroposterior axis.
- Observed variations in spatio-temporal dynamics of Ras pathway activity between C. elegans isolates.
- Demonstrated that variation primarily affects signaling pathways in a tissue-specific manner.
Conclusions:
- Characterized microevolution of a developmental signaling network in Caenorhabditis elegans.
- Showcased how robustness can obscure underlying genetic variation.
- Suggested that genetic background significantly influences mutation spectrums in developmental screens, impacting findings for pathways like Wnt.
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